Tucker Seeks To Void Conviction

Thursday, August 17th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) â€” Former Gov. Jim Guy Tucker said Wednesday that his Whitewater-related conviction and sentence should be voided because prosecutors concealed information his lawyers had sought.

Tucker has already served an 18-month sentence in home detention after being convicted of fraud and conspiracy in 1996 along with President Clinton's former business partners, James and Susan McDougal.

Prosecutors have agreed not to retry him on the charges if the initial conviction is thrown out.

In a filing in federal court, Tucker lawyer Jeff Rosenzweig said prosecutors for Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr's office deceived the court by not disclosing connections between star witness David Hale and Clinton opponents funded by a conservative billionaire and other individuals.

``The independent counsel went to extraordinary length ... to keep the subsidies to Hale and his connections with political opponents of Tucker and Clinton from emerging at trial,'' the filing said.

Tucker also argues that Starr had conflicts of interest that should have barred him from serving as a special prosecutor.

A federal judge will make a decision on Tucker's appeal. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at St. Louis is considering a separate appeal to overturn the conviction, claiming bias by a juror.