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Atlantic City councilman arraigned on voter-fraud charges from primary election
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MAYS LANDING - Atlantic City Councilman Marty Small and a dozen others involved in his failed Atlantic City mayoral campaign pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges they disenfranchised voters using messenger ballots.
Small and 13 others were indicted in September on various second-degree charges that they improperly handled messenger ballots during this year's Democratic primary. Small lost that election to Mayor Lorenzo Langford, who was re-elected to a four-year term in Tuesday's general election.
In some instances, the defendants opened sealed envelopes to see who the vote went to, then, if it wasn't for "the right person," they would destroy it, Deputy Attorney General Anthony Picione told Superior Court Judge James Isman. Some voters never even received their ballots or got the ballot the same time they were given the application, "Which, your honor knows, is not possible," Picione added.
One man, Ronald Harris, 23, pleaded guilty last month in the case. But he insisted outside court Tuesday that he was not involved but took a deal because he was scared. The deal requires him to testify if called to at trial.
"It's a witch hunt," Demaris Jones said outside court Wednesday.
"I have too much to lose to do something so stupid," said the Atlantic Cape Community College student and basketball player.
"It's politics as usual," Michele Griffin said.
"I'm a mother and a full-time student at Rowan," she added. "I'm not going to be involved in something like that."
"They don't want you," David Callaway interrupted. "They want me, Marty and (Floyd) Tally."
A jury convicted Callaway and Tally last month in on invasion-of-privacy and conspiracy charges for trying to blackmail a former political ally, Atlantic City Councilman Eugene Robinson, into resigning his seat. They are set to be sentenced Dec. 10.
Tally was remanded without bail, but Callaway is free after posting bail Tuesday night. He has previously insisted that the state is just going after his family, and that Attorney General Anne Milgram is the one disenfranchising voters by trying to stop his group's move to get people involved in the process.
Small was indicted in a similar case in 2005, but a jury eventually acquitted him of the third-degree charges. That will happen again, his attorney, Ed Jacobs Jr., said.
But the state said this time they will use Small's words against him.
"We have Mr. Small on tape," Picione said. "We have Mr. Small's voice on tape discussing this matter that would corroborate this witness."
Jacobs - who had not heard the state's evidence - predicted that would not be the smoking gun.
"I forecast it is not going to be interpreted by a regular person the way counsel interprets it," he said.
But Jacobs may not be kept on the case. The state is moving to have him removed because the prominent defense attorney once represented a state witness in this case.
Jacobs said he sees no conflict, because he only sat with Small's former campaign manager, Arthur Brown, while he gave a voluntary statement before the grand jury. Deputy Attorney General Robert Czepiel Jr., co-counsel in the case, was there at the time, Jacobs said.
"He knows as much as I do," he said.
Isman will hear that argument Dec. 18, at which time he will be provided a transcript of the statement.
"Mr. Brown knew very little," Jacobs said. "He was basically a check writer, which is what he said for three hours."
Jacobs said he also wants to hear the witness against his client.
Picione said there are several witnesses in the case, and wanted to know if Jacobs wanted just the one witness who is pointing the finger at Small.
"I want the finger-pointing liar," Jacobs bellowed. "That's what I want."
Discovery is a big obstacle in the voter-fraud case, because there are enormous amounts of evidence, according to Jacobs.
"When I use the word enormous, I'm talking tens of thousands of pages," he added.
But how and when the state's evidence is given to the defense has to wait until the defendants all have attorneys. Her office is working on assigning those seven cases, according to public defender Nellie Marquez, who entered pleas for those defendants Wednesday and also argued during bail proceedings in most of those cases.
All but five of the defendants were charged in a direct indictment, so bail was never set for them. The judge ruled on amounts Wednesday according to the state's argument of how involved each allegedly was, taking into account what they could afford. Isman allowed each a 10 percent option and gave them until Friday to pay or they would have to turn themselves in.
Callaway, Tally, Griffin, Toni Dixon and LuQuay Zahir had bail set previously, but Zahir was put back in jail after his indictment because it violates his parole on a weapons charge.
Mark Crumble, who has prior convictions, received the highest bail at $50,000. Small's bail is $35,000.
The others are: Thomas Quirk, $30,000; Ernest Storr and Ramona Stephens at $25,000 each; and Tracy PiJuan, Dameka Cross and Jones at $20,000 each.
The group will be back in court Dec. 18. Harris, who was said to have a much lesser role in the alleged scheme to steal votes, is set to be sentenced Dec. 4. He faces as long as 364 days in county jail.
The second-degree charges each carry a five- to 10-year prison term.
Contact Lynda Cohen:
609-272-7257
Posted in ATLANTIC CITY | TOP THREE on Wednesday, November 4, 2009 7:00 pm Updated: 7:54 pm.
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