A Clark County judge has dismissed the case against six Nevada Republicans who submitted an illegitimate slate of electoral votes for former President Donald Trump in 2020. During a Friday hearing, Clark County District Court Judge Mary Kay Holthus ruled that the county was not the correct jurisdiction for the case.
Despite arguments from state prosecutors favoring Clark County, the electors’ attorneys successfully argued that Carson City, where the signing ceremony occurred, or Douglas County, from where the non-valid electoral documents were sent, would be more suitable venues. Clark County leans much more Democratic, meaning a jury would no doubt be less favorable to the Republican defendants.
“You have literally, in my opinion, a crime that has occurred in another jurisdiction,” Holthus said. “It’s so appropriately up north and so appropriately not here.” Following the judge’s decision, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford expressed disagreement, stating, “The judge got it wrong.” He announced that his office would appeal the ruling to the Nevada Supreme Court. Consequently, a trial that had been scheduled for January has been vacated, pending the high court’s decision.
However, the state is unable to refile the case up north because a three-year statute of limitations expired in December. Maggie McLetchie, a lawyer for one of the defendants, said of the state: “They’re done.”
The Nevada Independent noted:
The ruling marks the first time that a case related to the Trump campaign’s efforts to submit a false slate of electors has been dismissed. Similar prosecutions are taking place in four other swing states — Michigan, Georgia, Arizona and Wisconsin — involved in the Trump campaign’s effort to submit a false slate of electors after he lost the 2020 election to President Joe Biden.
The six defendants — Nevada GOP Chairman Michael McDonald, Republican National Committeeman Jim DeGraffenreid, Clark County GOP Chairman Jesse Law, state party Vice Chair Jim Hindle, Shawn Meehan and Eileen Rice — were each indicted on two counts by a grand jury in December over their role in submitting fake election documents to federal and state election authorities that purported to cast Nevada’s six electoral votes for Trump.
The defendants faced charges of offering a false instrument for filing and uttering a forged instrument, which together carry punishments of two to nine years’ imprisonment.
Last month, Holthus expressed doubts about the appropriateness of Clark County as the venue for the case, prompting her to request a detailed justification from the state. In response, prosecutors presented 14 reasons supporting Clark County as the suitable jurisdiction. Key points included the residency of two defendants—Law and McDonald—in Clark County and the routing of certain mail related to the fake elector scheme through the county. Additionally, fraudulent electoral documents had been sent to a federal judge in Las Vegas, further tying the case to the county.
Attorney Richard Wright, representing McDonald, contended that the fraudulent documents intended for Miranda Du, the chief judge of the U.S. District Court of Nevada, were mistakenly sent to Las Vegas instead of Reno, where Judge Du is based. Furthermore, Wright pointed out that these documents were never opened in Las Vegas, a fact confirmed by testimony from the court clerk. He also claimed that this crucial information had been withheld from the grand jury.
“It temporarily made a pit stop in Las Vegas,” Wright said.
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Disclaimer: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.