A state appeals court reinstated five felony charges Friday against former Secretary of State Nancy Worley for a second time.
The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals issued a 4-0 ruling that said prosecutors presented enough evidence for the charges to stand against the former Democratic officeholder.
The decision means Worley’s four-year legal battle is far from over. Her attorney, James Anderson, said he would ask the court to reconsider, and if it doesn’t, she would appeal to the state Supreme Court for a second time.
The charges stem from a campaign letter, contribution envelope and bumper sticker that Worley sent to five employees in the secretary of state’s office during her unsuccessful race for re-election in 2006.
In March 2007, the attorney general’s office got a Montgomery County grand jury to indict her on five misdemeanor and five felony charges of using her position to try to influence votes. A Montgomery judge tossed out the felony charges, but left the misdemeanor charges.
Then the Court of Criminal Appeals reinstated them. The Alabama Supreme Court reversed that ruling in September and told the appeals court to take another look.
In Friday’s ruling, the appeals court said prosecutors planned to present evidence that Worley used her position to get the employees’ addresses and that she told employees that she could discover how they voted. The court said that “contains sufficient support to sustain the felony charges against Worley.”
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