Tag: Grand Jury

Arizona Republican Leaders Submit Brief Defending Cochise County Supervisor Tom Crosby from AG Kris Mayes’ Prosecution over 2022 Election Integrity Efforts

Rachel Alexander
Warren Petersen Ben Toma

State Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Mesa) and Speaker of the House Ben Toma (R-Peoria) filed a Motion for Leave to File Brief as Amicus Curiae in the prosecution of Cochise County Supervisor Tom Crosby on March 8.

Crosby, along with Cochise County Supervisor Peggy Judd, was indicted by a grand jury in November 2023 for briefly delaying canvassing of the 2022 election in order to investigate the laws that were broken. Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes charged them with the class 5 felonies of Interference With an Election Officer—even though they were in part administering elections themselves as officials—and conspiracy since they both voted together to delay the canvassing.

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Cochise County Supervisors Fight AG Kris Mayes’ Prosecution Over Delaying Vote Certification; File Motions to Dismiss, Request New Grand Jury

Rachel Alexander
Cochise County Supervisors Tom Crosby and Peggy Judd

Cochise County Supervisors Tom Crosby and Peggy Judd are fighting back against Attorney General Kris Mayes’ prosecution of them for voting to delay certification of the 2022 election by three days. The pair filed motions last week requesting that the case be dismissed and challenging the grand jury’s finding of probable cause against them. 

In Crosby’s Motion to Dismiss, which Judd joined later, Crosby’s attorney Dennis Wilenchik said, “The criminal statute involved is vague and ambiguous and overbroad, and unconstitutional as applied here to a member of a Board of Supervisors of a County voting in his official capacity. The case was brought purely for political purposes by the Attorney General and is an egregious abuse of her powers.”

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Democratic Arizona AG Kris Mayes Gets Grand Jury to Indict Two Cochise County Supervisors With Felonies Over Delaying Certification of Election

Rachel Alexander
Arizona A.G. Kris Mayes

Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes, who narrowly won her election by only 280 votes, the closest statewide race in Arizona’s history, has convinced a grand jury to indict two Cochise County Supervisors for briefly delaying certification of the 2022 election in order to investigate the laws that were broken. Cochise County Supervisors Tom Crosby and Peggy Judd, both Republicans, also unsuccessfully attempted to conduct a hand count of the election. Mayes sued them over the delay last November. 

“The repeated attempts to undermine our democracy are unacceptable,” Mayes said in a press release. She said the indictment alleged that “on or between October 11, 2022, and December 1, 2022, Judd and Crosby conspired to delay the canvass of votes cast in Cochise County in the November 2022 General Election.” She said this also interfered with the Secretary of State’s statewide canvassing. 

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A.G. Kris Mayes Initiates Prosecution of Cochise County Supervisor Who Questioned Voting Machines, Delayed Certification, and Attempted to Hand Count Ballots

Rachel Alexander

Cochise County Supervisor Tom Crosby, who sought to eliminate the use of voting machine tabulators in the 2022 election, delay certification, and conduct a hand count of ballots, received a grand jury summons from Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes earlier this month. The summons does not indicate what he is being investigated for, but he has tangled with Democratic officials over his concerns about election fraud.

Crosby and fellow Cochise County Supervisor Peggy Judd voted 2-1 against the lone Democrat on the board in favor of a hand count of last year’s election in October 2022, after receiving a letter from Arizona Corporation Commissioner Jim O’Connor threatening legal action if voting machine tabulators were used. The two also voted to delay certification of last year’s election, prompting Mayes to sue the supervisors.

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Trump Says DOJ Told Him He is a Target in Jan. 6 Probe, Must Report to Grand Jury

Just the News

Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he was informed by the Justice Department that he is a target of the Jan. 6 Grand Jury probe and he must report to the jury this week.

“Deranged Jack Smith, the prosecutor with Joe Biden’s DOJ, sent a letter (again, it was Sunday night!) stating that I am a TARGET of the January 6th Grand Jury investigation, and giving me a very short 4 days to report to the Grand Jury, which almost always means an Arrest and indictment,” Trump wrote.

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Arizona Attorney General Brnovich Prosecuting Felon Who Voted From Jail

Rachel Alexander

A state grand jury has indicted a 46-year-old felon for illegally voting while in jail. Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich announced that Manuel Aguirre of Sahuarita was indicted on one count of false registration and one count of illegal voting, both felonies. He voted during the 2020 election from the Pima County Jail. 

Aguirre falsely stated on his voter registration form that he had no felonies or that his rights had been restored. He has five felony convictions, including vehicular theft, criminal trespassing and weapons misconduct. 

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Prominent Democratic Official in San Luis, Arizona Indicted on Additional Charges of Ballot Harvesting

Rachel Alexander

A Grand Jury has indicted a prominent Democratic official in the border city of San Luis, Arizona again on charges related to ballot harvesting during the 2020 primary election. Guillermina Fuentes, who is a former mayor of San Luis, a Democratic precinct committee person, and a member of the Gadsden Elementary School Board, was first indicted in December on one count of ballot abuse, also known as ballot harvesting, for collecting four ballots from people and turning them in. She was not authorized to do so since she was not a family member, household member, or caregiver of the voters per Arizona law. 

The new charges of conspiracy, forgery, and an additional ballot abuse count relate to a fifth voter, where she signed the voter’s name on the return envelope and marked their ballot. Alma Juarez, another San Luis resident, was also indicted for ballot abuse in December along with Fuentes. Fuentes has pleaded not guilty. The Democrats of Greater Tucson describe Fuentes as “very politically active and has helped gather signatures for candidates.”

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Convicted Felon in Tucson Indicted for Voting in 2018, 2020 Elections

Rachel Alexander

A convicted felon in Tucson was indicted by a Grand Jury for illegally registering to vote and voting. According to Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, 45-year-old Kenneth Russell Nelson falsely stated on a voter registration form while incarcerated that he did not have a felony conviction, and then proceeded to vote in the 2018 primary and general election and the 2020 general election.

Nelson was convicted in 2007 of aggravated driving while under the influence of liquor while his license was suspended. He did not have his rights restored. He was arrested for first-degree murder in 2019 for killing his wife, which he admitted to. For the voter fraud, the Grand Jury indicted him on one count of false registration and three counts of illegal voting, comprising four felonies. 

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Georgia Psychologist Indicted for Medicaid Fraud

The Center Square
Doctor with arms folded, holding stethescope

A Georgia man is facing a fraud charge after law enforcement officials said he stole more than $99,000 from the state’s Medicaid program.

The Georgia attorney general’s office said Gainesville psychologist Dr. Guy Jordan filed claims for therapy sessions that never happened. Jordan was indicted on Medicaid fraud and false statements charges by a Hall County Grand Jury.

“We will not stop protecting taxpayer dollars, and we thank the Hall County Grand Jury for their work on this case,” Attorney General Chris Carr said in a statement. “We hope this indictment sends a clear message that tax dollars will not be abused.”

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Four Former Minneapolis Officers Indicted on Federal Civil Rights Charges in Floyd’s Death

The Center Square
George Floyd protest in Minneapolis with "I can't breathe" cardboard sign

 A federal grand jury has indicted four ex-Minneapolis police officers on federal civil rights charges related to the death of George Floyd.

The first indictment charges Derek Chauvin, 45; Tou Thao, 35; J. Alexander Kueng, 27; and Thomas Lane, 38. The three-count indictment alleges that all four defendants willfully deprived Floyd of his constitutional rights, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 242.

Count one of the indictment alleges that on May 25, 2020, Chauvin pressed his left knee on Floyd’s neck, and his right knee on Floyd’s back and arm, as Floyd lay on the ground, handcuffed and unresisting, and kept his knees on Floyd’s neck and body even after Mr. Floyd became unresponsive.

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Lawyers for Pilot Flying J Ex-President Say Evidence Was Inaccurate, Incomplete

Jason M. Reynolds

The legal defense team for Mark Hazelwood announced it filed a brief presenting the court with newly found exculpatory evidence in support of his request for a new trial in the case surrounding truck stop chain Pilot Flying J. The brief was filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee by Walden Macht & Haran LLP on behalf of the former president of the truck stop chain. The attorneys claim the government used a “doctored and materially incomplete transcript of a critical recording.” Hazelwood was found guilty by a jury in February of three out of the four federal charges brought against him – including conspiracy to commit mail/wire fraud and witness tampering – in connection with his alleged role in a multi-million dollar rebate scam to bilk customers out of $56 million. He was found not guilty on the remaining charge of wire fraud. The Walden Macht & Haran press release said, “The new evidence reveals that the government, either intentionally or unintentionally, used a doctored and materially incomplete transcript of a secret and critical recording at trial, thus fundamentally misleading the jury. The doctored transcript was the single most important piece of evidence used by…

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Nineteen Foreign Nationals Charged For Voting in 2016 Election

Jason M. Reynolds
Robert J. Higdon

Robert J. Higdon, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina on Friday announced 19 foreign nationals were charged with, among other alleged crimes, voting by alien for their actions prior to and on Nov. 8, 2016. A 20th defendant was charged with aiding and abetting a fellow defendant in falsely claiming citizenship to register to vote. A federal grand jury in Wilmington, North Carolina returned Indictments charging the following foreign nationals with false claim of United States citizenship to register to vote, and voting by an alien: Jose Cruz Solano-Rodriguez, 41, Mexico; Guadalupe Espinosa-Pena, 63, Mexico; Sarah Emilia Silverio-Polanco, 35, the Dominican Republic; Elizabeth Nene Amachaghi, 44, Nigeria; Maria Rufina Castillo-Boswell, 31, Philippines; Dora Maybe Damatta-Rodriguez, 64, Panama; Elvis David Fullerton, 54, Grenada; Olive Agatha Martin, 71, Guyana; Kaoru Sauls, age 54, Japan. Criminal charges of voting by an alien were filed against the following: Jose Jaime Ramiro-Torres, 52, El Salvador; Juan Francisco Landeros-Mireles, 64, Mexico; Alessandro Cannizzaro, 46, Italy; Dieudonne Soifils, 71, Haiti; Hyo Suk George, 69, Korea; Merius Jean, 54, Haiti; Rosemarie Angelika Harris, 60, Germany; Daniel Tadeusz Romanowski, 39, Poland. A federal grand jury returned an Indictment charging an 18th defendant, Diana Patricia Franco-Rodriguez,…

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Indicted Lawrence County Sheriff Jimmy Brown Loses Election

Jason M. Reynolds
Jimmy Brown

Lawrence County Sheriff Jimmy Brown, who is under indictment for alleged abuse of power, lost his re-election bid last Thursday. And, a race with statewide interest is drawing questions over irregularities. Military and law enforcement veteran John Myers, a Republican, beat the Democratic sheriff by 53 percent to 31 percent, The (Columbia) Daily-Herald reported Saturday. Independent Rick Osborne took approximately 16 percent of the vote. ‘Boss Doss’ loss raises questions The Lawrence County election process was called into question, especially over the narrow defeat of State Rep. Barry “Boss” Doss (R-Leoma) lost to newcomer Clay Doggett, The Tennessee Star reported. A 16 hour delay occurred in the reporting of the results in the Republican primary. “The fact that several different and inconsistent vote numbers have been reported from Lawrence County over the past 24 hours raises serious questions about whether the disparities are due to incompetence or actual technical issues or something more sinister. The fact that the Secretary of State’s office seemed to have no idea that there were problems indicates that an investigation or a full audit is in order,” Tennessee Star Political Editor Steve Gill said. Late Friday, the Election Administrator’s office confirmed to The Tennessee Star that Lawrence…

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