Will vote fraud acquittal affect future cases?
VOTE FRAUD: 41 cases still pending, prosecutors say one loss doesn't change a thing
NWI Times
Dec 18, 2006
nwitimes.com/news/local/will-vote-fraud-acquittal-affect-future-cases/article_c2a361a5-a868-5df1-a6e3-4782300b7ba3.html
CROWN POINT | At least one attorney representing a client charged with vote fraud is taking his chances on a jury trial after Robert "Bosko" Grkinich's acquittal last week.
East Chicago Police Officer Lester Chandler is charged with two counts of voting in a precinct in which he didn't reside.
Defense Attorney John Cantrell said it's "make it or break it" for Chandler because he loses his law-enforcement job if he's convicted of a felony.
Schererville Democratic Precinct Committeeman Grkinich successfully fought off 20 counts of vote fraud when a jury of six found him not guilty on all counts Dec. 8.
So far, the Joint Vote Fraud Task Force of Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter and County Prosecutor Bernard Carter has leveled charges against 52 Lake County citizens. The task force spent the last couple of years looking into the 2003 Democratic Primary, in which the election results for two races were overturned: the Schererville Town Judge and East Chicago Mayoral races.
Eleven have been convicted to date.
Only Grkinich won an acquittal, despite what looked like a strong case against him.
Cantrell said the Grkinich verdict could be an indication of how many in Lake County feel about vote fraud.
"I do think the Grkinich case was a test case to see voters' opinions on whether minor, innocent, technical violations of Indiana voting laws should cause someone to be convicted of a felony and subject to prison," Cantrell said.
One of Grkinich's lawyers, Thomas Mullins, disagrees.
"I think the verdict was specific to my client and is not political," Mullins said. "Jurors found the state didn't prove it's case beyond a reasonable doubt."
The Indiana Attorney General said jurors indicated otherwise.
One juror told prosecutors the not guilty verdict was designed to "send a message to the legislators that the voting laws were too complicated," Steve Carter said.
Bernard Carter said the Grkinich verdict was a clear case of jury nullification -- a jury not wanting to convict a defendant despite evidence of guilt.
"We presented uncontroverted evidence. They had to convict him on some of the handling of the ballot charges. But they refused," Bernard Carter said. "They may have thought the law wasn't fair or was too harsh."
The Lake County Prosecutor said defense attorneys may feel the Grkinich verdict gives them a stronger position in plea negotiations, but Carter argued it doesn't.
"The electoral process is the basis of our freedom, and not to protect that system and that process hurts us all," he said.
Both Carters said the task force is still investigating, and more indictments are forthcoming.
Cantrell agrees that voting is important, but charging people with things like voting in a different precinct than the one in which they live isn't helping.
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