Courts have always played a major role in painting political landscapes, but the importance of the judiciary in determining public policy – and thereby influencing politics – seems particularly intense now. The Indiana Supreme Court recently intervened in no less than three cases, determining they are so important that the public is best served by the…
In a day filled with developments in the Charlie White case, Indiana Democrats threw another punch in the fight for the secretary of state’s office. The Democrats filed a motion Monday asking the Indiana Court of Appeals to enforce a Marion County judge’s ruling that their candidate, Vop Osili, should become secretary of state. White was removed from office early Saturday when a jury convicted him of six felony charges, including voter fraud. A judge on Monday set his sentencing for Feb. 23. Jerry Bonnet, appointed by Gov. Mitch Daniels to fill in, began his tenure as interim secretary of state Monday. It’s uncertain when the Court of Appeals will rule, but the Democrats’ request adds another wrinkle to the already complicated case of who should become secretary of state.
The Indiana Democratic Party has asked the Indiana Court of Appeals to enforce a judge’s ruling that would make their candidate Secretary of State. Former Secretary of State Charlie White, a Republican, was removed from office early Saturday morning after a jury convicted him of six felonies. Gov. Mitch Daniels appointed Jerry Bonnet, White’s chief deputy, as his interim replacement, but Democrats believe Vop Osili is White’s rightful successor, and they filed a motion this afternoon to try to get him in office.
While Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels held off Saturday on appointing a permanent replacement for the state elections chief convicted early that morning of voter fraud, Democrats said they planned to move quickly to wrest control of the politically powerful office from the GOP. A jury from Hamilton County, just north of Indianapolis, deliberated for 13 hours before convicting Republican Secretary of State Charlie White on six felony charges. Among other things, White was accused of lying about his address on voter registration forms. Indiana law does not allow felons to hold statewide office, and Daniels quickly appointed White’s chief deputy, Jerry Bonnet, as interim secretary of state. But the governor said he was holding off on naming a permanent replacement because a judge could reduce the charge to a misdemeanor, allowing White to regain the office.
Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White was convicted of six felonies early this morning, and consequently lost his job. But the Republican could get it back soon. White, 42, Fishers, plans to ask a judge to reduce his convictions – all class D felonies – to misdemeanors at sentencing. It’s uncertain whether that move would allow him to reclaim his job. “We don’t know the right answer to that,” White said. “This is all very new.” Shortly after White’s verdict was read, Gov. Mitch Daniels announced in a news release shortly before 3 a.m. that he has appointed Jerry Bonnet, White’s chief deputy, as interim secretary of state.
Fifteen months have passed since the polls closed in Indiana’s last secretary of state election. But the battle over who should hold the office is far from being finished. There have been political challenges and a lawsuit; a criminal trial and a conviction but still no definitive result. Simply put, it’s “a mess,” said one political expert. Charlie White, the elected officer, was convicted of six felony charges, including voter fraud, early Saturday morning, which removed him from office. But he could be reinstated on a technicality. Meanwhile, Gov. Mitch Daniels appointed White’s chief deputy, Jerry Bonnet, as to be his interim replacement. Democrats, however, claim they’ve won the office because of a Marion County judge’s ruling that has not yet been enforced.
Calling the jury verdict, “a travesty,” Indiana’s former top elections official vows to appeal the decision that found him guilty of multiple counts of voter fraud, which has resulted in his temporary removal from office. Republican Secretary of State Charlie White was charged with illegally registering to vote at his ex-wife’s house and was convicted on six of seven felony voter related counts in the early hours Saturday morning by a Hamilton County jury in Noblesville, Ind., just north of Indianapolis. “I found out that Indiana is a land of men and not of law,” White said in an exclusive Fox News interview on Sunday in which he contended that the jury was not given the full instructions on the charges by prosecutors. “What I think happened yesterday was a total miscarriage of justice and a perversion. The law allows me to do everything I did and the jury did not get all the law.”
Indiana’s top elections official could lose his job and his freedom after jurors convicted him of multiple voter fraud-related charges on Saturday, leaving in flux the fate of one of the state’s most powerful positions. Republican Secretary of State Charlie White has held on to his office for more than a year despite being accused of lying about his address on voter registration forms. A Hamilton County jury found White guilty of six of seven felony charges, including false registration, voting in another precinct, submitting a false ballot, theft and two counts of perjury. He was acquitted on one fraud charge. White expressed no outward emotion as the verdict was read, and later said outside the courtroom: “‘I’m disappointed for my family and the people who supported me.”
Special prosecutor Dan Sigler was taken from the Hamilton County Courthouse in an ambulance Friday, just minutes after delivering his closing arguments in the trial against Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White. Sigler left the courtroom quietly and summoned for his wife before being taken out on a gurney. There are still two remaining prosecutors on the state’s team so closing arguments will continue uninterrupted. White is charged with seven felony counts, including fraud, perjury and theft. If White is convicted of a single count, he faces removal from office and possible prison time. Special prosecutor DJ Sigler told the jury Charlie White knew what he was doing was wrong but he did it anyway in pursuit of political power. He told the jury the evidence “all fits together”
A Sprint representative could shed light today on where Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White lived while he campaigned for office in late 2009 and 2010. Prosecutors say White’s cellphone records will show he lived in a townhouse with his then-fiancee — instead of in a home with his ex-wife, as he has claimed.Evidence on where White lived during that time could convince a Hamilton Superior Court jury as to his guilt or innocence on seven felony charges, including voter fraud and theft. The trial resumes at 9 a.m. today.
Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White’s defense lawyer rested Thursday without presenting a case against voter fraud charges that could oust White from office. Closing arguments in the weeklong trial are set for Friday, when the case is expected to go to jurors in Hamilton County Superior Court. White is charged with seven felony counts, including fraud, perjury and theft. If White is convicted of a single count, he faces removal from office and possible prison time.
Prosecutors delved into documents regarding Charlie White’s home loan and employment during his trial Tuesday to try to show that he lived in a townhome with his new wife when he claimed to be sharing a home with his ex-wife. They say they’ll also present records that show the Indiana secretary of state has lived at the townhome since late 2009. Confusion over White’s address from late 2009 through 2010 led a grand jury to indict him on seven felony charges, including theft and voter fraud, in March. If convicted of any of those charges, he’ll lose his elected position and face prison time.
Indiana’s top elections official committed voter fraud to preserve his political clout and protect his finances, a special prosecutor said Tuesday during opening arguments of a trial that will determine if Secretary of State Charlie White keeps his office — and his freedom. “This case is about deceit and cheating,” special prosecutor Dan Sigler Sr. told jurors at the Hamilton County Courthouse in the Noblesville, about 20 miles north of Indianapolis. “Somebody tried to get away with something … somebody got caught.”… Sigler portrayed White as a man “obsessed with politics, with success in politics.”
Indiana’s top elections official is himself facing allegations of voter fraud. Secretary of State Charlie White, a Republican, is in the unusual position of being the person entrusted to protect the integrity of the ballot box, while at the same time fighting seven felony charges involving allegations he registered to vote at his ex-wife’s house and served as a local councilman when he actually lived outside the district. Jury selection in White’s trial is set to begin this morning at the Hamilton County Superior Courthouse, in Noblesville, Ind. “We’ve always abided by the law,” White told Fox News in an interview last November. Through a spokesman, he declined another interview on the eve of the trial.
A jury has been set in the criminal trial of Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White in Hamilton County. White is charged with seven felonies, including voter fraud and perjury, stemming from allegations that he lied about where he lived in 2010 so he could continue collecting his salary as a member of the town council in Fishers, just north of Indianapolis. Slightly fewer than 50 potential jurors were called for questioning Monday morning, RTV6’s Derrik Thomas reported.
In the days after his indictment on seven felony charges, Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White received the same advice repeatedly from his top advisers: Don’t talk to the media about the charges. White listened and nodded in agreement, according to sources close to him, but when it came time to follow that advice, he went his own way. Before his March 11, 2011, initial hearing, White shocked his advisers by giving a 12-minute impromptu news conference about his theory that the charges, which included voter fraud and theft, are politically motivated. White, who had been one of the Republican Party’s most faithful servants, had gone rogue.
Charlie White might not have been aware he could be breaking election law when he registered to vote at his ex-wife’s address in Indiana’s May 2010 Republican primary. But whether he acted deliberately or out of ignorance, experts say the action undermines the credibility of the state’s top elections office. “There are two scenarios, and neither one is very flattering,” said Robert Dion, a political science professor at the University of Evansville. “Either he was not aware of the law — and that doesn’t raise a lot of respect — that you have to live in the district you represent, (or) if he did know, that’s even worse.”
Fireworks flew in a Hamilton County courtroom as lawyers prepared for the Charlie White criminal trial. White, Indiana’s secretary of state, faces seven felony charges, including voter fraud, perjury and theft. His lead defense lawyer, Carl Brizzi, sees the upcoming criminal trial as an tough task. “Any time someone is charged by the state or federal government for a crime, it’s an uphill battle,” he said. “We talk about a legal presumption of innocence, but i don’t think that really exists out in society.”
The Indiana Attorney General’s Office is asking the Indiana Supreme Court to review the case of Secretary of State Charlie White. A Marion County judge ruled in December that White is ineligible to hold office because he was improperly registered to vote at his ex-wife’s house in 2010 when he was a candidate. His ruling overturned a June decision by the Indiana Recount Commission that White could stay in office.
Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller has asked the state Supreme Court to decide whether Charlie White can remain secretary of state. The court didn’t immediately say Tuesday whether it’ll take up the case. Zoeller represents the state recount commission, which is appealing a judge’s decision that found White ineligible to run for the office he won in November 2010. That reversed a previous recount commission ruling that upheld White’s candidacy. The judge has delayed enforcing the order pending the appeal.
Marion Circuit Court Judge Louis Rosenberg ruled Wednesday that Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White can remain in office while he appeals an order removing him from the statewide post.
Rosenberg said he reached the decision because he felt “the negative consequences would be great and irreparable” if he did not grant the stay. Rosenberg had issued an order Dec. 22 ousting White because he was improperly registered as a candidate when he ran for office in 2010.
But he stayed that order pending a hearing Tuesday requested by White, who has filed a notice of appeal.
As Gov. Mitch Daniels looks ahead to his last year in office, he said there are some things that he’d rather not remember. In a year-end review, Daniels said Secretary of State Charlie White’s troubles and former Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission chairman David Lott Hardy’s indictment was an embarrassment to him and other Republican leaders, RTV6’s Norman Cox reported.
White is accused of lying about where he lived during the 2010 primary for secretary of state so he could continue collecting his pay from the Fishers Town Council.
A judge could decide today how long Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White can keep his job. Marion Circuit Judge Louis Rosenberg ruled last month that White is ineligible to hold office. White appealed and asked Rosenberg to delay his removal until a higher court hears the appeal.
Rosenberg agreed to halt proceedings until today, when he will hear arguments over whether White’s removal should be postponed until the appeal process is finished. If Rosenberg rules against White, Vop Osili, the Democrat who ran against White, will take over as secretary of state.
Let’s start here: If I’m Charlie White, I’m fighting like crazy for my job. If I’m Charlie White, one controversial year into my first term as Indiana’s secretary of state, I’m fighting like mad for my political career. If I’m Charlie White, I don’t want it to end like this.
But I’m not Charlie White. The real Charlie White is fighting like crazy, but he doesn’t seem to know that it’s all crashing down in ways that a political career can barely survive and in ways that expose Hoosier voters at a time when they need strong character leading the elections division at the Statehouse.
If I’m the Indiana voter — hey, that is me — I’m asking: Why is Charlie White still running this particular show?
A Marion County Circuit Court Judge’s ruling on Secretary of State Charlie White’s eligibility to run for office is likely heading for appeal, so what happens after that?
Judge Louis Rosenberg ruled that White was ineligible to run for office because he was not legally registered to vote when he filed for candidacy. That ruling reversed an earlier unanimous decision by the Indiana Recount Commission. White’s attorney, Jonathan Sturgill, has requested a hearing which is set for next Thursday to seek a stay in Judge Rosenberg’s ruling.
For many keeping a close eye on Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White’s legal battle for his political life, their interest is not so much about White as the office — and who will replace him if he is removed from office. On Thursday, a Marion County judge overturned an Indiana Recount Commission decision and ruled that White, who was elected in November 2010, was not legally registered to vote. Thus, the judge said, he did not meet the requirements to be on the ballot, and the second-place finisher should take his place.
An attorney for White filed in Marion County for an emergency stay of that ruling, and a judge has frozen the case until a Jan. 3 hearing on whether to grant that stay. Meanwhile, in five weeks, a Hamilton County jury is scheduled to decide a criminal case against White. Prosecutors have filed seven felony charges, including voter fraud, against him. If he is convicted of any of them, he would be removed from office.
But there is a key difference between the two procedures: If he wasn’t qualified for the ballot, a Democrat would take his place; if he is ejected from office because of a felony conviction, Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels would choose his replacement.
Attorney General Greg Zoeller announced that his office will appeal a Marion County judge’s decision that Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White is ineligible to hold office because he was registered to vote in a precinct where he didn’t live while campaigning for office in 2010. Marion Circuit Court Judge Louis Rosenberg on Thursday reversed the Indiana Recount Commission’s ruling that White was eligible and should continue to serve.
In a news release issued this afternoon, Zoeller said that he plans to appeal without waiting for the three-member recount commission to meet and vote on whether it should appeal.
“My office ultimately represents the State and the public interest,” Zoeller said in the release, “and as the State’s chief legal officer it is not necessary to wait to appeal until the Recount Commission can meet and vote on seeking an appeal. The Attorney General’s Office already has the independent authority to assert the legal interest of the State and bring some clarity and certainty out of the confusion.” Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White will remain in office until after the holidays.
Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White’s two-front fight for his political life could be on its way to the state Supreme Court. A Marion County judge on Thursday ruled that White was not legally qualified as a candidate for the office he holds, and ordered that Democrat Vop Osili, the second-place finisher in the 2010 election, be installed in his place.
The ruling by Marion Circuit Judge Louis Rosenberg overturns a decision made by the three-member Indiana Recount Commission. That panel had ruled that despite controversy over his legal residence, White, a Republican, was eligible for the ballot.
Now, Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller’s office, which represents the Recount Commission, will ask the Indiana Court of Appeals to consider the case, and also place a hold on the ruling that would keep White in office while the legal process plays out. That court is the last step before the case would reach Indiana’s highest court.
A Marion County Circuit Court judge has ruled that Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White was not eligible to be a candidate for the office, and that White’s Democratic challenger Vop Osili should be certified as the secretary of state. The matter now goes back to the Indiana Recount Commission.
The ruling by Judge Louis Rosenberg stems from a civil lawsuit by the Indiana Democratic Party. It sets aside the previous decision of the Indiana Recount Commission to allow White to remain in office.
A Hamilton County judge has denied Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White’s motion to dismiss seven felony charges that were filed against him earlier this year.
White, who is accused of voter fraud and other crimes because of confusion surrounding where he lived while running his 2010 campaign, had argued that the charges should be dismissed because there were problems with the grand jury process that led to his indictment, among other things.