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Sunday, January 29, 2012

Ind. Gov't. - "Getting caught up on the case against the secretary of state" [Updated]

Carrie Richie has a story today in the Indianapolis Star, setting the stage for "Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White's criminal trial [which] will begin Monday in Hamilton Superior Court." More from later in the story:

After an investigation by two special prosecutors, a grand jury indicted him on three counts of voter fraud, two counts of perjury, one count of fraud on a financial institution and one count of theft.

The theft charge carries a penalty of two to eight years in prison; the remaining charges carry a penalty of six months to three years.

White, who's an attorney, also could lose his law license and the secretary of state title if he's convicted.

Technically, he has lost his job already as a result of an election challenge in Marion County.

Democrats accused White of being improperly registered to vote while he was a candidate and challenged his eligibility to hold office.

The Indiana Recount Commission exonerated White last June, but a Marion County judge overturned the commission's ruling in December.

Marion Circuit Judge Louis Rosenberg decided that White should be removed from office and that Vop Osili, his Democratic opponent, should take his place.

However, White and the Recount Commission are appealing, and Rosenberg has allowed White to stay in office until a higher court hears their appeals.

Re Judge Rosenberg's ruling, an appeal for an emergency transfer has been pending before the Supreme Court for several weeks - see this ILB entry from Jan. 10, 2011 and this one from Jan. 19th.

For more on the criminal case, I'm told Fox 59's 2-hour news show ("America's News HQ") this morning (10 am-noon) will have a segment on the upcoming White criminal trial - beginning at 11:35 am.

[Updated at 10 AM] Now that I'm reading the print version of the paper, I see that Carrie Richie also has an in-depth, front-page story today in the Sunday Star, that continues on to a full inside page. A sample:

In 2010, White's connections to the governor were about to pay off. He won his party's nomination for secretary of state.

"I think one of the reasons he got the Republican nomination without really a challenge is because he had a statewide reputation of dedication and devotion to the governor," Delph said.

Things were looking good for Charlie White.

But then it was revealed that White had moved out of his Fishers council district and continued to vote there -- and draw a council paycheck. He insisted it was a misunderstanding. But Vop Osili, the Democrat who ran against White, touted White's residency issues in TV ads that questioned his ability to serve as the state's chief elections officer since he allegedly didn't follow voting laws.

The ads and news coverage of his legal problems had little effect on the race, and Republicans continued to support White.

White beat Osili by more than 300,000 votes.

Despite the questions, White had won his biggest political prize.

White's celebration, however, was short-lived. Leerkamp pursued a criminal case against White in late 2010 by requesting that two special prosecutors review the case and decide whether charges were warranted.

In March 2011, a Hamilton County grand jury indicted White on seven felony charges.

Even though Leerkamp did not make the charging decision, White has said publicly that he thinks the charges are a political vendetta.

"Nothing could be further from the truth," Leerkamp said.

Leerkamp acknowledged that White didn't support her campaigns for office, but she said she never had a personal conflict with him. And she said he never explained to her why he supported Felix over her.

"All he's trying to do is keep deflecting from his own actions and responsibilities," Leerkamp said.

[More] See also this Jan. 4th story by Ritchie on why timing is everything in the White cases.

[Still More] For more on White/Leerkamp/Delph, see this entry today in Sheila Kennedy's blog.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 29, 2012 07:47 AM
Posted to Indiana Government