The Allen County Prosecutor’s Office says there is no reason to think Dan Sigler, a prosecutor in Whitley County, has committed a criminal offense.
Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White had claimed Sigler committed voter fraud by voting at wrong polling sites over the past six years. That’s the same crime White will go on trial for in August. Sigler was one of the people who investigated him.
A hearing in Clark County’s Circuit Court on Wednesday alleged that the county’s electronic voting machines were inoperable in Clarksville during the May 3 primary election.
As a result Clarksville Clerk-Treasurer Gary Hall is asking that Clarksville have a special election to determine the winner of May’s Democratic clerk-treasurer primary. “We’ve asked for a new election on that particular race,” said Jack Vissing, Hall’s attorney.
Hall lost the Clarksville clerk-treasurer primary race to Bob Leuthart by 26 votes. Leuthart received 880 votes compared to Hall’s 854 votes.
Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White denied allegations Tuesday that he committed voter fraud even as Democrats presented legal documents signed by White suggesting he did.
For nearly seven hours, the Indiana Recount Commission took testimony concerning where White lived and voted in 2009 and 2010 to determine whether the Republican was eligible to be elected secretary of state.
Attorney Karen Celestino-Horseman, representing the Indiana Democratic Party, challenged White to explain why he claimed his ex-wife’s address as his own when he registered to vote in February 2010, even though in November 2009 White leased a condominium elsewhere in the Indianapolis suburb of Fishers.
Allegations before the Indiana Recount Commission on Tuesday boiled down to whether Charlie White lived with his ex-wife or in a home he purchased to be with his fiancée when he ran for office in 2010.
That issue alone could decide whether he was legally registered to vote – and therefore hold the office of secretary of state that he won later that year. The panel won’t render a decision until a June 30 hearing.
White is accused of intentionally voting in a precinct where he no longer lived, and he is fighting two battles simultaneously. On the criminal side, he faces seven felony counts including voter fraud and perjury. If convicted of a felony, he must resign and the governor would appoint a successor.
The long-awaited hearing to decide the fate of the Secretary of State’s office kicked off Tuesday with testimony from Charlie White himself. White answered all questions asked at the Indiana Recount Commission hearing about confusion over his residency, despite the fact that his testimony can be used against him in criminal court.
He is accused of intentionally voting in a precinct where he no longer lived, and he is fighting two battles simultaneously. On the criminal side, he faces seven felony counts including voter fraud and perjury. If convicted of a felony, he must resign and the governor would appoint a successor. On the civil side, Democrats have forced a recount hearing in which a three-member panel controlled by Republicans will rule on whether White was ineligible to be on the ballot because he wasn’t legally registered to vote.
If they agree, Democrat Vop Osili – who came in second in the contest – would take over the office.
A recount of the vote in Clarksville’s Democratic Primary for Clerk-Treasurer Tuesday trimmed Bob Leuthart’s victory over incumbent Gary Hall by one vote, to 24, with 1,730 votes cast. But Hall’s lawyer, Jack Vissing, who had asked Clark County Circuit Court to order the recount of the May 3 primary, said his client will continue with his challenge of the election results.
A hearing is scheduled July 22 in circuit court on Hall’s claim that special election machines for voters with disabilities weren’t programmed properly and didn’t work on primary day, preventing an undetermined number of voters from casting ballots.
Secretary of State Charlie White has lost another preliminary round ahead of a Tuesday hearing on whether he can stay in office. Marion Circuit Judge Louis Rosenberg has rejected White’s request for immunity for his testimony at a Recount Commission hearing.
White’s facing a criminal trial in August on related charges, accusing him of voting from an address he’d already moved away from. Attorney Jim Bopp says allowing prosecutors to scour his testimony before the commission leaves him with “an unconscionable choice” between mounting his best defense in the criminal case or the election case.
Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White is expected to paint a picture of a man with a complicated personal life who was essentially without a home for nearly a year when he defends himself against voter fraud allegations during an Indiana Recount Commission hearing.
But White’s tale of what he calls efforts to care for his son and respect the wishes of his then-fiancée may not hold sway with the commission, which is under a judge’s order to decide whether he illegally voted in the May 2010 primary while registered at his ex-wife’s address.
A ruling against White would invalidate his election and force his removal from office. He also could face jail time if convicted in a separate criminal case.
Having failed to prevent Tuesday’s scheduled hearing before the Indiana Recount Commission on a Democratic Party complaint that he was illegally registered to vote at the time he declared his candidacy and thus, ineligible to have been elected as Indiana’s Sec. of State, Charlie White has filed a motion [PDF] to compel a grant of ‘use immunity’ in exchange for his and his wife’s testimony before the commission.
Separately, White is facing seven felony counts, including three for voter fraudrelated to his having been registered to vote at a house where he did not live, while serving as a member of a town council in a town where he also didn’t live. Trial in that criminal case is scheduled to commence on Aug. 8. The two special prosecutors assigned to the case have declined to provide the Whites with use immunity — with good reason. They no doubt want to avoid what happened to the Iran/Contra independent counsel when, for example, an appellate court ruled in United States vs. Col. Oliver North that a grant of use immunity to North shifted the burden to the independent prosecutor to “demonstrate an independent source for each item of evidence or testimony.”
Granting use immunity to White would make the job of the prosecutors in the criminal case that much more difficult.
Anything Secretary of State Charlie White says at an election hearing Tuesday can be used against him in his criminal case in Hamilton County, a Marion Circuit Court judge ruled this morning. White’s attorney, Jim Bopp, said he is considering fighting the ruling in the Court of Appeals. If he appeals, he would ask for an expedited ruling so Tuesday’s hearing could continue as planned.
The Indiana Recount Commission will hear arguments and testimony Tuesday regarding Democrats’ complaint that White was illegally registered to vote at the time he declared his candidacy and shouldn’t be allowed to hold office. The Democrats say that White’s Democrat opponent, Vop Osili, should replace White.
Secretary of State Charlie White will be asked today to publicly answer Democrats’ claims that he was illegally registered to vote last year when he declared his candidacy. The Indiana Recount Commission will hold a hearing this morning to hear testimony and arguments over whether he should be removed from office.
But it’s uncertain how many questions White, who is also facing felony charges that include voter fraud, will answer. A judge ruled Monday that anything he says can be used against him in the Hamilton County criminal case.
Friday, the Indiana Supreme Court denied appeals in the case against Secretary of State Charlie White (R).
White was indicted by a Hamilton County grand jury earlier this year, on seven counts including voter fraud, theft and perjury. White is accused of voting in the wrong precinct while he was on the Fishers Town Council. White maintains it was an honest mistake. He’s also at the center of another investigation, accused of accessing a confidential report about him made by his predecessor, the previous secretary of state Todd Rokita (R).
This could be a rough week for Charlie White.
Indiana’s embattled Secretary of State is to be the subject of an eight-hour Indiana Recount Commission hearing Tuesday. The first-term Republican isn’t the only one who will be grilled by Democrats who want him thrown out of office.
His wife Michelle will, too. So will his ex-wife, Nicole Mills, and her husband. His neighbor will be subpoenaed. So will the developer of his new condominium and the saleswoman who showed it to him.
The purpose of the hearing is to determine whether White’s voter registration last year was valid. If it was not, he could be removed from office.
Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White won’t give up in his effort to win immunity before he testifies to the state Recount Commission in a proceeding meant to find out if he committed voter fraud.
White is scheduled to testify next week, but he’s worried that what he says will be used against him in a criminal case. That’s why he is now pursuing a third attempt to win immunity for what he says.
When White’s attorney asked the state Recount Commission to grant White limited immunity, what’s known as use immunity, for his testimony scheduled for next Tuesday, he got a confused response from Recount Commission Chairman Thomas Wheeler: “But I have never seen anybody other than a prosecutor give use immunity.”
Charlie White is asking a judge to prevent his testimony during an election hearing Tuesday from being used against him in his criminal case. Marion Circuit Court has agreed to consider the issue Monday morning, just one day before the hearing.
The Indiana Recount Commission will hear testimony Tuesday regarding Democrats’ complaint that White was illegally registered to vote at the time he declared his candidacy for Secretary of State and shouldn’t be allowed to hold office. Democrats say that the Republican White’s opponent, Vop Osili, should replace White.
White has unsuccessfully sought to halt the Democrats’ complaint until his criminal case in Hamilton County is resolved. He has been charged with seven felonies, including three counts of voter fraud, and his trial is scheduled for Aug. 8.
Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White has asked a judge to rule that his testimony before a state panel considering whether he should remain in office cannot be used against him in a criminal case alleging he committed voter fraud.
Marion Circuit Judge Louis Rosenberg has set a hearing on the motion for Monday, the day before the Indiana Recount Commission will hold its own hearing on the Democratic Party’s civil challenge to the Republican White’s candidacy in the November election.
If Rosenberg grants White’s request for partial immunity, his testimony to the recount panel couldn’t be used against him at the criminal trial set for August. The request also covers his wife, Michelle Quigley-White, who the motion says also could face criminal proceedings.
The Indiana Supreme Court has declined to reconsider its decision to let Democrats proceed with their challenge to Charlie White’s eligibility to hold office.
Democrats claim White was illegally registered to vote when he filed paperwork to run for Secretary of State and isn’t eligible to hold office. They say Democrat Vop Osili should replace him. The Indiana Recount Commission will have a hearing on the issue Tuesday.
Convinced that Charlie White is being treated unfairly, the embattled Indiana secretary of state and his family are lashing out at the prosecutors who are building the case against him.
White sent a letter to the Allen County prosecutor’s office complaining that one of the two special prosecutors in the case, Dan Sigler, committed voter fraud himself.
It’s one of the charges on which a Hamilton County grand jury indicted White earlier this year, and White has complained before that he believes he is being selectively prosecuted.
Allowing cameras in the Indiana Recount Commission’s hearing on Secretary of State Charlie White’s eligibility to hold that office is the right decision.
Indiana’s Open Door Law clearly gives the public the right to “observe and record” meetings of governing bodies of state and local public agencies. The Indiana Supreme Court upheld that right in its 1989 decision in Berry v. Peoples Broadcasting Corp., where the court said cameras and tape recorders could not be banned from public meetings.
One can appreciate that White and his wife, Michele, may be uncomfortable testifying about where they lived or slept at particular time, but that’s a key element in the question as to where White lived and where he should have voted in the 2010 election.
The public’s right to know whether one of the top elected officials should be removed from office, overturning the election result, trumps the uneasiness witnesses may experience knowing their testimony is being videorecorded.
Tuesday’s hearing on Charlie White’s eligibility to serve as Indiana Secretary of State will be streamed online, the Indiana Recount Commission decided today.
White’s attorney expressed that some questions at the hearing might be inappropriate in reference to his sex life. Commission members said if that’s the case the cameras can be turned off.
Also, the commission denied a request by that White’s wife, Michelle, that not to be subpoenaed to testify because of the possibility of self-incrimination. The commission said she must show up and assert her Fifth Amendment rights.
Both the current and former wives of embattled Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White will testify next week before a state panel that is considering whether to remove the Republican from office. So will Dan Parker, the chairman of the Indiana Democratic Party, which is pressing the case. And he’ll have to bring records with him that demonstrate when he first learned of the residency issues that he believes should disqualify White.
The Indiana Recount Commission made those decisions Tuesday afternoon at a hearing that precedes one scheduled for June 21, during which it will take eight hours of testimony on whether White should be removed from office.
Embattled Secretary of State Charlie White has filed a complaint against one of the special prosecutors in his felony voter fraud case, alleging he is guilty of the same offense White’s charged with.
White, 41, filed the eight-page complaint to Allen County Prosecutor Karen Richards Friday. White accuses Special Prosecutor Dan Sigler, his ex-wife Nancy Sigler and current wife Sherie Hampshire of voting at the wrong polling sites in the past six years.
Sigler denied the accusations, calling it “sour grapes” on White’s part.
The special prosecutor who brought criminal charges against Secretary of State Charlie White alleging he committed voter fraud by casting a vote in a precinct in which he allegedly did not reside is facing a criminal complaint against him for the very same charges he has brought against White.
The person leveling the charges against Special Prosecutor Dan Sigler is Secretary of State Charlie White. If the allegations White alleges against his accuser are true, it’s a case of the pot calling the kettle black.
Clark County’s Circuit Court has set a date and named a commission to recount the votes in the Democratic primary election for Clarksville’s Clerk-Treasurer.
Bob Leuthart edged out Gary Hall in the race to be the Democratic representative in November’s general election by 26 votes, receiving 880 votes to Hall’s 854 votes.
The Indiana Supreme Court said Friday the state recount commission should go ahead and reconsider whether Republican Secretary of State Charlie White was a valid candidate for the office to which he was elected. Democrats challenged White’s candidacy after the November election, saying he wasn’t eligible to seek the office. A Hamilton County grand jury…
Read the Court Order (PDF) Ruling on an emergency transfer request, the Indiana Supreme Court today accepted Secretary of State Charlie White’s appeal against the state’s Democratic Party and ruled it won’t put a halt to the case while a recount investigation and criminal voter fraud proceedings are ongoing. With that, the justices are allowing…
The Indiana Recount Commission says it will appeal a judge’s ruling ordering it to reconsider whether Republican Secretary of State Charlie White was a valid candidate for the office to which he was elected. The commission did not lay out its case in the notice of appeal it filed in Marion Circuit Court, and officials…
Former Secretary of State Todd Rokita believes Secretary of State Charlie White erred in making public Rokita’s investigation of White’s voting history. On Thursday, White released the “Rokita Report,” a 238-page compilation of public records that the report says shows “apparent, albeit rebuttable” intent by White to deliberately vote in the wrong precinct in the…
A report on allegations of voter fraud by Secretary of State Charlie White found “apparent, albeit rebuttable” indications that White intentionally used his ex-wife’s address to vote in the May 2010 primary. The report, released Thursday, offers just enough suspicion to excite Democrats, who have filed a complaint alleging that White wasn’t legally registered to…
ndiana Secretary of State Charlie White’s office today released a report compiled by then Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita at the request of the Indiana State Democratic Party. Rokita had petitioned to have the report exempt from public record requests, and the move by White comes after final approval from the Indiana Inspector General…