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Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Ind. Decisions - Muncie vote fraud case will likely go to trial in the spring, after Court of Appeals ruling

Per this 11/22/05 ILB entry:

In Agnes Murphy v. State of Indiana, Judge May writes:
Agnes Murphy was charged with unauthorized receipt from a voter of a ballot prepared by the voter for voting, a Class D felony, after she accepted a ballot in a sealed envelope from an absentee voter and put it in a mailbox. She moved to dismiss the charge on the ground the statute under which she was charged is unconstitutional, and she brings an interlocutory appeal of the denial of her motion. Murphy raises two issues on appeal, which we restate as:

1. Whether the statutory prohibition of unauthorized receipt from a voter of a ballot prepared by the voter for voting is void for vagueness and/or overbreadth; and

2. Whether receipt of a sealed envelope from an absentee voter and delivery of the sealed envelope to a mailbox amounts to “unauthorized receipt . . . of a ballot.”

The State asserts Murphy does not have standing to challenge the statute. We agree and accordingly affirm.

Today the Muncie Star-Press reports, in a story by Nick Werner:
MUNCIE -- An Indiana Court of Appeals has given local prosecutors the go-ahead to continue pursuing felony vote fraud charges against the mother of Muncie City Council member Monte Murphy.

The case against Agnes Murphy, 63, will likely go to trial sometime in May, although a date has not been determined, Delaware County Deputy Prosecutor Eric Hoffman said. Authorities alleged she improperly handled voter absentee ballots and tried to influence an elderly woman during the 2003 election.

Murphy has been charged with "unauthorized receipt from a voter of a ballot prepared by the voter for voting," a class D felony, after she accepted a ballot in a sealed envelope from an absentee voter and put it in a mailbox, according to the appeals court opinion.

Her attorney, John H. Brooke, filed a motion in Delaware Circuit Court 4 to dismiss the criminal charges. He argued that the statute was unconstitutional because of its vagueness and breadth.

Judge John Feick ruled against the defense and in favor of the prosecution. The issue was then taken up by the court of appeals.

The court of appeals ruled late last month that Feick made the right decision and that Murphy did not have standing to challenge the statute.

The process by which a pending case can be reviewed by a higher court is called an interlocutory appeal and happens three or four times a year in Delaware County, Hoffman said. * * * The case comes back to Court 4, though the defendant can still appeal to the Indiana Supreme Court.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 7, 2005 08:48 AM
Posted to Ind. App.Ct. Decisions