Wales case witness's appeal heard

Judges from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals held a closed hearing Wednesday in connection with an appeal by a witness in the grand-jury investigation into the 2001 shooting death of federal prosecutor Thomas Wales.

Joseph Conte, the Washington, D.C., lawyer for the witness — Bellevue gun dealer Albert Kwok Leung Kwan — said the topic of the hearing was his appeal over the FBI's seizure of Kwan's personal papers in connection with the Wales investigation.

The hearing was closed and all of the lawyers' briefs sealed. Clerks could not even say whether it was Kwan or the government who had sought the appeal.

Steven Clymer, the special prosecutor assigned to the case by the Department of Justice, left the courthouse without talking to reporters.

Clymer has declined to comment about the matter, citing grand-jury secrecy. At least two FBI agents also attended the hearing.

But Conte, as Kwan's lawyer, is not bound by the same secrecy rules as the government. He said the topic of the 40-minute hearing was "the return of [Kwan's] property."

"They asked for a lot of paper from him," Conte said, referring to the FBI's interest in Kwan as the buyer of at least one gun barrel of a type linked to Wales' slaying.

Conte said he filed the appeal after an adverse ruling on the issue by the grand-jury judge in U.S. District Court.

Kwan, a sergeant in the Army reserves, has been a reluctant witness in the case and in 2005 was jailed for 23 days as a material witness.

Conte has said his client has refused to talk to the grand jury, citing his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination.

The FBI believes Kwan purchased two aftermarket replacement barrels for a Makarov handgun. Forensic experts have said the bullets fired at Wales through his basement window the night of Oct. 11, 2001, were fired from that type of handgun, fitted with a replacement barrel.

Since then, the FBI has scoured the country trying to account for nearly 3,500 such barrels sold in the U.S. before the killing. Agents have located and tested thousands of them.

Kwan provided the agents with one barrel but has claimed no recollection of a second barrel even though the FBI has found a receipt for it, Conte has said. Kwan also has failed an FBI polygraph on that issue, the lawyer confirmed.

Kwan is not considered a suspect in Wales' death. Federal agents say the investigation has led them to conclude that a Bellevue airline pilot once prosecuted by Wales is their prime suspect.

If Wales was killed as a result of his job, he would have been the first federal prosecutor in U.S. history to die in the line of duty.

No charges have been filed despite a $1 million reward, a special prosecutor, an FBI task force and six years of investigation.

Mike Carter: 206-464-3706 or mcarter@seattletimes.com