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Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Ind. Courts - "Harrison GOP leader seeks investigation into courthouse visits"
Grace Schneider reports in the Louisville Courier Journal today:
The chairman of Harrison County's Republican Central Committee has asked the state police to investigate after-hours visits to the county courthouse last week by deputy county prosecutor Shawn Donahue.According to a courthouse surveillance video, Donahue unlocked the courthouse twice after 7 p.m. on Nov. 1.
The 28-year-old lawyer was shown walking alone, carrying papers in and out of a first-floor entry door and also through the second-floor treasurer's office to a side room where there's a copier and other equipment.
He stayed for 13 minutes and left, then re-entered within half an hour and left after about two minutes, the tape showed.
In an interview yesterday, Donahue said he had done nothing wrong.
However, at a meeting yesterday county commissioners described his visits as a "security breach" because he had not been issued a key.
Republican chairman Larry Shickles asked state police in a Saturday letter to investigate to "verify the integrity" of ballots and voting equipment related to today's election.
He also has questioned whether Donahue, who is a Democratic precinct committeeman, might have used public equipment for political purposes, a misdemeanor under the law.
In the interview, Donahue said he dropped by the courthouse to use a letter-folding machine on some letters "that we needed folded."
When asked who "we" is, Donahue said the papers were his personal letters.
"I was under the understanding that anybody could use the letter folder, so I used it," he said.
He declined to say who gave him a key to the courthouse.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 7, 2006 01:24 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts