Greens under attack? (continued)

On February 3, Beaudette won. He received 428 votes to 226 for LaFortune and 33 for Pooler. (This past November Beaudette was re-elected to a full two-year term.)

On February 12, Biddeford police announced they were investigating accusations of voter intimidation in absentee-ballot gathering on the part of the LaFortune campaign. Chipman immediately told the Portland Press Herald that the complaints of Green voter intimidation resulted from contacts by Democrats with voters. Democrats rejected this charge.

Eight months later, on October 5, four Green LaFortune campaigners were indicted by a York County grand jury: Castora, 78; Dolgon, 75; Whitten, 54; and Chipman, 29.

"The timing speaks for itself," Chipman told the Press Herald.

Castora was charged with four counts of felony forgery of a ballot and the misdemeanors of influencing a voter (three counts) and receiving compensation for carrying a ballot (one count). Dolgon was accused of the felony of ballot forgery (two counts) and misdemeanors of influencing a voter (two counts) and receiving compensation for carrying an absentee ballot (one count). Whitten was charged with the misdemeanors of influencing a voter (one count) and receiving compensation (one count). Chipman was charged with one count of influencing a voter. The felony crimes carried possible maximum sentences, depending on the charge, of from six months to 10 years in jail and the misdemeanors from one to six months in jail.

The charges were front-page news in the daily Press Herald and Biddeford Journal Tribune, and they received much attention in other news media. When Chipman was relieved of his State House job assisting Eder (the nation’s highest Green elected official), who was in what was perceived to be a tight race with Democrat and fellow incumbent Ed Suslovic for re-election in the newly created district, his dismissal also received considerable exposure.

During this Portland race, Suslovic tried to make Eder’s association with Chipman a campaign issue. In a debate between the candidates moderated by Phoenix managing editor Sam Pfeifle, a Suslovic campaign worker loudly heckled Eder over his connection with Chipman.

The state’s case rested on whether the Green campaign workers had actually marked the ballots cast by several voters, whether they attempted to influence people to vote for LaFortune, and whether they got paid by the campaign specifically for absentee-ballot collection, such payment being illegal in Maine. The defendants pleaded not guilty. Leonard Sharon of Auburn represented the accused pro bono. One of Maine’s most prominent defense lawyers, he is active in the left-wing National Lawyers Guild and has represented Mainers arrested in Iraq War protests.

Chipman’s, Dolgon’s, and Whitten’s trials in Superior Court took place this spring and summer. A jury acquitted Chipman of the one count of influencing a voter. Dolgon was acquitted of the felony forgery counts and of receiving compensation for carrying a ballot. In a bench (nonjury) trial, Justice G. Arthur Brennan convicted him of two counts of influencing a voter and gave him a sentence of 200 hours of community service, which he is performing at Biddeford’s soup kitchen. A jury acquitted Wayne Whitten of influencing a voter but convicted him of receiving compensation for absentee-ballot work. His sentencing is scheduled for August 30, but it may be continued, and Justice Paul Fritzsche suggested in court that he might overturn Whitten’s conviction. Castora is scheduled for trial in September, but because of his age and failing health it appears unlikely he will be tried.

The Greens claimed victory. At the end of his trial, Fred Dolgon told the Journal Tribune he felt "vindicated" by the results.

The Greens also repeated their charges about the motivation for the prosecutions. "It’s clear there was an attempt to paint the party in a negative light, to indict the entire Green party," Chipman told the Press Herald after his acquittal.

Specifically, "The timing was an effort to derail the campaigns of Green party candidates, including John Eder," he also said. "Why did that amount of time have to go by before the charges could be filed?"

Besty Garrold, current state co-chair of the Greens, recently commented: "When John Flagler [the Greens’ "defense coordinator" for these cases] and I started talking about this in March, I said to him, ‘Wait. This will break in October.’ "

As the cases wound down, Assistant Attorney General Robbin saw things differently. The results in the Dolgon case, she told the Journal Tribune, should send the message to campaign workers and voters that someone voting absentee is entitled to privacy.

As for the accusation of political timing in the charges, in an interview Robbin did not dispute that the investigation was largely finished by the early spring, but she claimed the indictments were postponed by such things as "limited clerical resources" in her office, a detective who had other work to do, and "the process of putting the investigative file together."

But defense lawyer Sharon said he couldn’t understand the delay: "There was absolutely no investigation done after the spring."

WHY WAS THIS CASE SO IMPORTANT?

Green defense coordinator Flagler said he believes $125,000 must have been spent on the investigation and prosecution, including the salaries of Robbin, the state’s detective, and the Biddeford police. Dolgon added: "A 260-page evidence book doesn’t come cheap." Sharon said, "They spent a lot of time and money."

Prosecutor Robbin laughed at the $125,000 figure: "I operate on a shoestring." She said she didn’t know what was spent, adding, "cases like this I do in my spare time." She is chief of the financial crimes and civil rights division.

"Frankly, I wish I’d put more resources into it," she said.

The Greens also noted the rarity of absentee-ballot prosecutions. Although Robbin agreed that her department has instigated no absentee-ballot fraud cases since Democratic Representative Donald Sproul of Augusta was indicted, convicted, and sent to jail in 1987, she said the AG’s office has aggressively gone after other types of election fraud, such as successfully prosecuting Carol Palesky, the antitax crusader, for altering dates on state initiative petitions.

The Biddeford 4 prosecutions were important, she said, because "The most serious thing you can take away from people is the right to choose their own government."

But defense attorney Sharon saw the motivation as something else: "Chipman was someone they really wanted. He was the biggest fish to fry because he was tied to John Eder."