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District 6 trial postponed
Berry, Fannin case postponed at least 10 days
Published Wednesday, April 29, 2009
The trial set to continue today between Pike County’s District 6 Commissioner Karen Berry and her election opponent Oren Fannin has been postponed for at least 10 days.
And, based on last week’s trial, vote totals are expected to change.
Retired Lanett Judge Joel Holley heard testimonies from several Pike County voters, election officials and Berry in Pike County Circuit Court last Wednesday, but the absence of key witnesses delayed the trial’s conclusion.
The witnesses, Karl, Mary and Brandon Kidd were subpoenaed by Fannin and attorney Joel Lee Williams, but due to medical emergency were unable to attend court. Williams argued the three, who cast absentee ballots for Berry in the election, all lived in District 4 and attempted to prove through tax records and the district map where the family resided.
Since three legal documents listed different addresses, the plaintiff’s would not rest without the testimony of at least one of the family members.
However, Berry’s attorney Frank Ralph consented Tuesday that he would agree those three do not live in District 6.
After the stipulation was filed, Holley said he would postpone the trial’s conclusion for another 10 days, giving the parties more time to prepare closing remarks.
“From evidence admitted about the map, Mr. Ralph said he and his client would stipulate the Kidds live outside District 6,” Holley said. “I’m giving the councils 10 days to follow any further pleading.”
Holley said those three votes from the Kidds would be considered illegal votes for Berry, who won the election by just six votes.
The question that remains is whether Fannin has or will prove at least three more votes were not legal in the race.
“Those three votes will be taken away from Mrs. Berry’s total, but in the testimony, Mr. Williams put on a witness or two that basically proved they lived outside the district and voted for Fannin,” Holley said.
In essence, if the judge rules all five of those votes out of the election, Fannin will only be one vote closer to the commission seat.
The testimony of voters, two of which said a notary did not witness their signatures, were part of Fannin’s allegations against Berry.
Plaintiff’s also contested Berry’s son Brent Berry and daughter-in-law Ashton voted absentee in the election but do not reside in Pike County. Brent testified he and his wife live in Shelby County but claim Karen Berry’s address as their home since they come almost every weekend.
Those, along with absentee ballots submitted in evidence and any further information presented in the trial’s conclusion, will determine whether Berry illegally won the election as Fannin alleges.
“The vote totals will probably end up changing some. Other than that, we’ll see what they argue then,” Holley said.
No date has been set for trial yet.
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Comments
Posted by aht1998 (anonymous) on April 29, 2009 at 9:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Karen Berry should be arrested and prosecuted for voter fraud. By stipulating to the fact that she went to voters who she knew lived outside of the district with a notary to assist them in casting an illegal and fraudulent ballot, she has stipulated to 3 counts of voter fraud. Prosecute her now.
Posted by Listentome (anonymous) on April 30, 2009 at 5:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This thing has gone on so long that I for one am tired of it. I live in District 6 and this is getting old.
I guess the judge will have to decide whether this is a case of voter fraud or not. Mrs. Berry will have to deal with whatever happens because of the judge's ruling.
As for Mr. Fannin, I DO NOT WANT HIM AS MY COMMISSIONER. I would never vote for him.....actually, I would vote for anyone BUT him. Sometimes it comes down to the lesser of two evils!
That being said, if he were to be given the office without a re-election, he will certainly have so much work to do that he will wish he did not have the office. I will be contacting him about EVERY problem that is within his jurisdiction. My thinking is that if he wants the d*** job so bad, we should give him ALL of the work that goes into that job. The more calls the better!
I have wondered from the beginning why Mr. Fannin has pushed this so much. Knowing what I know of him, this is not him actually caring about integrity and justice. Not sure he would know what those words mean. This all seems to be about losing to a female or maybe just being a loser. Or maybe there are other things or people behind this. Maybe a previous Republican loser? Fannin was a Republican before he switched in this election. Interesting theory, huh? Joking, sort of!
Get ready for it Mr. Fannin, I am calling you with all of my District 6 problems and concerns. Isn't that why you have fought so hard to get this office? Didn't you want to be that public servant and help the people of District 6? You may yet get your chance if the judge's ruling goes your way.
Posted by countrygirl66 (anonymous) on April 30, 2009 at 6:04 a.m. (Suggest removal)
"Oh, the tangled web we weave, when others we try to deceive"! Could she finally be caught in her webs????
Posted by OldTimer (anonymous) on April 30, 2009 at 7:43 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Again, this is going to boil down to what is proven to be legal
(or illegal). I notice a lot of posters make a lot of assumptions
on what Mrs. Berry and Mr. Fannin knew or didn't know. It is going
(or should be) to be cut and dried on which ballots are legal and illegal(both sides). Assumptions and accusations won't hold up
in court unless proven to be absolutely true. I wonder why all
ballots in the district weren't validated for residency in district 6.
Especially since there was only 6 votes separating the two. If this small sample size produced 5 persons who voted out of district,
what would over 3000 ballots show(for both sides)?
Posted by eagleconnection (anonymous) on April 30, 2009 at 7:54 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Why did the Absentee manager not catch that those votes were not in District 6? Isn't he/she supposed to check theses things?
Posted by OldTimer (anonymous) on April 30, 2009 at 8:19 a.m. (Suggest removal)
If they lived in the district at one time and got on the voting list,
then I think the voting list is all they have to go on. You are checked off when you vote. I don't know if there is any difference between a regular voter and and absentee voter as far as the
procedure. The voter themselves is the one who signs to say they
are a resident of that district. I know they can't vote in multiple
districts. The candidates themselves may very well not know the
accuracy of their residency. Some folks have a residence in
multiple districts. The burden is on the voter themselves. Like I
said, it would interesting to find what happened in the whole
district. I also wonder why Mrs. Berry and her defense team
didn't take this approach and attack Mr. Fannin's area of the
district as well as the Troy portion of the district. They apparently chose to only defend Mr. Fannin's allegations and
not pursue an offense to check out the whole district. There is
no telling what else might have shown up(for both sides).
Posted by timeforchange (anonymous) on April 30, 2009 at 8:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I do think that Mrs. Berry has been caught this time. She has done other things in past elections that she should have been called on the carpet for. (Like telling someone the job at with the BOE was their's if they voted for her.) BUT yet again, the ways of Pike County has to do with who you know or related to as to where you are on the totem pole.
There is one way to settle this once and for all, REVOTE! With NO absentee ballots. This would have cost less and would have been over by now! BUT no lets drag it out for as long as they can and lets see how much money can be spent over this issue.
Posted by momof2 (anonymous) on April 30, 2009 at 8:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I AGREE WITH YOU AHT1998 . MRS. BERRY DOES NEED TO BE ARRESTED FOR VOTERS FRAUD.
Posted by muledeer (anonymous) on April 30, 2009 at 8:52 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Voter fraud is of question for sure. One comment I have regarding the statement of "Listentome" is : Regardless of who wins the election spot, espress your questions and concerns just the same. if you have so many problems in your district, why limit yourself to just him if he wins. Are the problems going to go away of Karen Berry gets the position? blow it out on whichever individual serves in the position.
Posted by OldTimer (anonymous) on April 30, 2009 at 9:25 a.m. (Suggest removal)
An election without absentee ballots would be illegal anywhere
in the U.S. You would be denying a lot of people their legal right to vote just because they couldn't make it to the polling place on the day of the election. Absentee ballot fraud wouldn't hold a light to that fraud because that would make the absence of all absentee ballots an election fraud. Everyone will probably agree there is some absentee ballot fraud, but denying that many people their legal right to vote is a much much larger fraud.
Posted by timeforchange (anonymous) on April 30, 2009 at 11:17 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Okay, if is illegal to not allow absentee ballots, then why is it not illegal to allow a canidate to go out and "pick up" absentee ballots? It was reported that Mrs. Berry went to people's homes to "pick up" ballots, wouldn't anyone with half a brain think something was wrong with that?
If they are allowed to "pick up" ballots then why is in illegal for a canidate to be within so many feet or yards from polling places?????
Things happened that should not have happened in this race and they need to be looked into.
I do have a question though, Who is sitting in this Commissioner's seat at the moment?
All I am saying is let us revote on this issue.
Posted by aht1998 (anonymous) on April 30, 2009 at 11:50 a.m. (Suggest removal)
If Karen Berry had any self-respect at all and if she had any compassion for the people of Pike County, she would withdraw as a candidate and issue a public apology and promise never to run for anything again. Of course, she doesn't care about the people of this county and she never has, so she won't do that. She will force all of the, the taxpayers, to foot the bill to continue to prove that she did illegal and unethical things over and over again in this election and in past elections.
Posted by OldTimer (anonymous) on April 30, 2009 at 12:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Maybe I have less than half a brain but I know of many candidates
in several counties that have done that. As long as they are applied for legally, have 2 witnesses or a notary sign them along with the absentee voter actually marking the ballot and signing the ballot, then they are legal to the best of my knowledge. Some
people either work out of town, will be out of town on election day, or will lose pay if they take off from work. An absentee ballot
isn't the simplest of things to do and will be thrown out if everything is not done exactly correct. The process of an absentee
ballot vote is more than some people will want to tackle alone
because of it's complexity. Both the voter and candidate want to make sure the vote counts. Again, it is all about the law and
what is legal and illegal. Whichever way this ends it should be
to the letter of the law. All the accusations, opinions, rumors etc. won't matter at all unless a law has been broken. That won't
be decided on this board.
Posted by aht1998 (anonymous) on April 30, 2009 at 12:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)
From the article above:
"Berry’s attorney Frank Ralph consented Tuesday that he would agree those three do not live in District 6."
This means that they have admitted that she knew that at least these 3 people that she took absentee ballots to and had notarized, etc etc were not residents of the district. That means she committed voter fraud and has consented to doing so through her attorney.
Why has she not been arrested?
Posted by OldTimer (anonymous) on April 30, 2009 at 12:51 p.m. (Suggest removal)
If they were on the voter list for district 6 and had previously lived
in district 6 she may not have known. It is up to the registrar's
office and the voter themselves to change their voting district.
Actually the registrars office after being notified by the voter. So
the burden is on the voter. If they were on the voter list for district 6, then there is clearly no fraud on Mrs. Berry's part. It is
up to the poll workers, registrar and the voter themselves to clean up the voter lists(not the candidates). What Mr. Ralph is admitting
to is after discovery, that they are indeed not eligible. That was
only recently brought to light.
Posted by yatta (anonymous) on April 30, 2009 at 1:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Doesn't Karen work for the board of education?
Posted by aht1998 (anonymous) on April 30, 2009 at 2:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)
When she drove out to their home with her notary with her, she knew she was no longer in her district.
And the idea that her son and daughter in law who live near Birmingham voted absentee in Pike County is a joke and a vagrant instance of voter fraud. Arrest the whole family and send them all to jail.
Posted by OldTimer (anonymous) on April 30, 2009 at 2:21 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Did she drive to their home? I haven't seen that stated. The last
I heard, neither Mrs. Berry or Mr. Fannin are vagrants. A vagrant
is defined as a wanderer who has no established residence or
visible means of support.
Posted by aht1998 (anonymous) on April 30, 2009 at 2:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)
According to the article last week, she was driving around to these people's homes with a notary in her car and picking up their ballots and having them notarized right there. That was in last week's Troy Messenger.
Posted by aht1998 (anonymous) on April 30, 2009 at 2:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)
This is the quote in last week's paper which said that judge questioned how odd it was for her to be driving around to people's homes with a notary:
Here is the quote:
"After hearing the evidence and reviewing several absentee ballot affidavits on his own, retired Lanett Judge Joel Holley had some questions of his own. “Does it not make you feel a little strange going to homes, assisting with affidavits and notarizing signatures?”"
Posted by OldTimer (anonymous) on April 30, 2009 at 2:50 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It didn't specifically say she went to the Kidd's home. Maybe she
did. It did say she went to Mr. Blair's home and a couple of other
people's home. It only mentioned the Kidd's weren't there because of a family emergency. It's probable that not all the
ballots were signed at the voter's home. I'm sure some were signed at Mrs. Berry's home and some at the voter's workplace etc. The Kidd's ballots are already thrown out. The Judge also
mentioned her driving around with a notary wasn't illegal . In my
opinion(and this is only my opinion), proving that anything presented thus far (ballots) to be illegal (other than the Kidds)
would be the person who had her absentee ballot witnessed over the phone. Even then she testified under oath that she
voted for Mrs. Berry. (this whole thing should be about accuracy). As far as Mrs. Berry's son and daughter-in-law, I think they will have a hard time proving non-residency in Pike
County since they don't own or claim a homestead exemption(which is what I understand) in the Birmingham area.
I could name several hundred people(including myself) who have worked out of town and come home on the weekends that voted in Pike County. That is all about permanent residency
and if they claim a homestead exemption where they work.
Military, construction workers, salesmen among others are
examples.
Posted by OldTimer (anonymous) on April 30, 2009 at 3:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Also, the lady and her husband(I believe) who voted out of district
for Mr. Fannin would be illegal. Again, it would interesting to see
how much of this out of district voting happens district wide. People are constantly moving back and forth and truthfully, I don't
see how the polling lists are accurately maintained. Just consider
all the districts in Troy alone(both county and city) with all the movement with renters alone.
Posted by Listentome (anonymous) on April 30, 2009 at 4:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Muledeer,
Thanks for the advice. Don't worry, I have and will make sure that my representatives know of problems in my district. I will say that when Mrs. Berry was the comissioner before, she did listen to concerns. David Carpenter also listened to the concerns from our district....in my opinion, of course.
All of this is just my opinion, BUT that is what makes our country great. We can ALL have our opinions. Our country was founded on the premise that, "WE THE PEOPLE......" (Cue the U.S. National Anthem!)
Joking aside, we do need this to be settled and to know who exactly our commissioner is. We need another election...yes, I know that cost money, but some of the people who voted for Mrs. Berry may well have voted for ANYONE other than Mr. Fannin if given an alternative.
It will be interesting to see how this all plays out and what the judge decides on a legal standpoint.
Posted by Bamabunny (anonymous) on April 30, 2009 at 5:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Well if there is another election.....I hope all the indiscretions mentioned will be brought forth to the judge that decides what should be legally done...because there seems to have been some illegal practices that took place.
Posted by monk_jonas (anonymous) on April 30, 2009 at 6:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I'm glad I don't live in District 6.
Posted by outsider4765 (anonymous) on April 30, 2009 at 7:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Oldtimer, thank you for having common sense.
It is my understanding that the family that voted absentee because they were going to be out of town are registered to vote in Henderson which is well within district 6 so, when the district lines were re-drawn, in my opinion, the Board of Registrars should have had some obligation to tell voters their polling place had changed. How many other elections did these people, at no fault of their own in my opinion, voted at the wrong polling place. For that matter, how many people county wide are voting at the wrong place.
I also think that there are others participating in this posting that should understand that not all absentee ballots are cast at home or work. Many are "walk-in" votes cast in the court house.
Lets also, while ranting, remember that Fannin also had absentee votes outside of the district, doesn't mean he knew it, but why is no one calling for his prosecution? I'm pretty sure that I know who the writer of the "arrest them all" comment is, if I'm right, a personal vendetta is involved, in my opinion.
Fannin never campaigned where I live which is in district 6, not even a sign on the side of the road, so, no he's not really interested in those of us that live within the district & certainly not interested in those of us that actually live outside of the city limits of Troy. Fannin thought that the votes cast within Troy would win this for him & it didn't.
Since Ms. Berry was sworn in, I think she is currently serving on the commission.
I'm finished now, really I just wanted to thank Oldtimer for his/her common sense!
Posted by aht1998 (anonymous) on April 30, 2009 at 7:40 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Nobody has ever accused Fannin of going to get ballots or transporting a notary around to notarize ballots ,etc. Karen Berry should be ashamed of herself and I am ashamed that I voted for her. I hope there is a revote because I can tell you that me, my husband, and my mother will not vote for her again so that is 3 votes she will lose.
Posted by twobytwo (anonymous) on April 30, 2009 at 7:57 p.m. (Suggest removal)
If both knownly obtained votes that were not legal, then Gov. Riley should appoint someone else to fill the seat.
Posted by Bamabunny (anonymous) on April 30, 2009 at 8:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)
twobytwo.....I agree!
Posted by Bamabunny (anonymous) on May 1, 2009 at 11:06 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Ever wonder how widespread corruption is among politicians? I wonder at times what has happened secretly among some politicians that we never hear about?
I dare say that some things would normally end up warranting prison time.
Posted by septuagenarian (anonymous) on May 1, 2009 at 10:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)
aht--I hope you never end up on a jury! Obviously you can't think anything out. Very simple-minded, aren't you?
Posted by septuagenarian (anonymous) on May 1, 2009 at 10:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)
aht--you're hilarious! "Arrest them all. Send them to jail." Are you five years old?
Posted by Bamabunny (anonymous) on May 2, 2009 at 12:06 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Rolling back in I see with your new name "septuagenarian".
I know it has to be a challenge for you but can you make an effort to be nice and not be sarcastic?
Posted by atthehump84 (anonymous) on May 2, 2009 at 12:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)
All of this to be a county commissioner in Pike county? Who is paying this bill?
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