All charges have been dropped against 2020 GOP presidential elector James Renner—but there is a catch. In return, the 75-year-old Lansing man must cooperate with prosecutors.
According to the four-page Agreement for Special Consideration approved by local District Court Judge Kristen Simmons on Oct. 19, Mr. Renner promised to “cooperate fully” with the prosecution “to provide full and complete information” regarding the circumstances of the case against his 15 fellow electors.
In exchange for Mr. Renner’s “full cooperation, truthful testimony, and production of any and all relevant documents,” the Michigan Dept. of the Attorney General agreed to dismiss all eight charges against him, some of which carried penalties of 14 years in prison.
Belated Indictment
In July, 941 days after the alleged crime was committed, Michigan’s Democrat Attorney General Dana Nessel charged all 16 defendants with eight felony counts of alleged election forgery and conspiracy to commit election forgery.The Michigan GOP electors were indicted by Ms. Nessel for presenting themselves to Congress after the November election as a contingent slate of presidential electors—something they contend is not a crime.
The same strategy has been used in the past, even by Democrats, and was employed by Republicans in several states that challenger Joe Biden won by narrow margins.
The states that put forward contingent electors in 2020 were Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan.
Michigan is the only state to prosecute the GOP place-holder electors.
Defense attorney Kevin Kijewski, who represents elector Clifford Frost, told The Epoch Times that the actions of Michigan’s GOP electors were nothing more than a “political protest.”
“The strength of their defense is they didn’t commit a crime,” he said.
Of particular interest to the prosecution is information they may obtain from Mr. Renner about the Dec.14, 2020, meeting in Lansing, at which the electors gathered in an office building and signed the contingent certificate.
The clearly labeled document is what it claims to be, and the electors signed their own names to it.
The certificate showed that they had cast their votes for President Donald Trump, whom they believed to have won the state.
According to Mr. Kijewski, they did not forge the Democrat electors’ document or the governor’s seal of certification, nor did they forge the Democrat electors’ signatures.
“A forgery is a document that purports to be something that it really is not. The prosecution must prove that a person acted with the specific intent to deceive, defraud, or cheat,” he said.
The Agreement for Special Consideration said that Mr. Renner may be asked to testify about who attended the meeting, who signed the certificate, and who the leaders were, as well as “circumstances regarding walking to the Capitol Building on Dec. 14, 2020.”
In previous filings, the prosecution has made much of the fact that the Republican electors met on the legally appointed day but not at the legally specified location—the State Capitol Building.
Shaky Case
Before deciding to move forward with a prosecution, the prosecutor is supposed to thoroughly study police reports, statements by witnesses, and other information and records pertinent to the case in order to determine if there is probable cause to believe that a crime was committed and that the accused suspect committed the crime.Before Ms. Nessel took up the 16 cases, they were examined by two U.S. Attorneys from two separate districts, along with the Ingham County Prosecutor’s office. All three prosecutors decided against charging the 16.
Defense attorneys quickly labeled Ms. Nessel’s action a “political persecution, a witch hunt, and lawfare.”
‘The Process Is the Punishment’
Lawfare is a method to punish people who are very likely not guilty of an alleged crime by forcing them to spend large sums of money on legal fees and a great amount of time defending themselves.“You cannot ignore the opportunity cost involved for the defendants. Every hour spent in court or preparing for court is time that could have been spent running their business or farm or being with their family.
“Nor should anyone underestimate the emotional anguish these innocent people have already suffered.
Costly Journey Through the Courts
Mr. Kijewski provided The Epoch Times with a synopsis of the numerous legal procedures the electors are facing.Under Michigan law, the local District Court of the jurisdiction where the alleged crime was committed is usually the starting point in the legal odyssey of a criminal prosecution.
A person accused of a felony appears there for arraignment, a process in which the defendant is told what the charges are, the maximum penalty for the offense if convicted, and is advised that in the American system of justice, he or she is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
The accused’s right to a lawyer and a jury trial are also reviewed.
In a felony case, pleas of guilty or not guilty are not in order in a District Court.
Once arraigned, a preliminary examination or probable cause conference is scheduled.
Cases Likely Headed for Circuit Court Trial
The District Court judge can then either dismiss the case, reduce the charges, or bind the case over to the Circuit Court for another round of procedures.After the Circuit Court arraignment, a pre-trial conference between the prosecutor and the defense attorney takes place, followed by pre-trial proceedings conducted by the Circuit Court judge.
A defendant can opt for a trial before the judge called a bench trial, or the defendant can exercise his or her right to a jury trial.
The judge or jury then decides if the evidence is sufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty of the alleged crime.
Mr. Kallman said that he believes all the electors’ cases will likely end up in Circuit Court.
For now, the electors are at various stages of the above-described process and will be in and out of court every few weeks for the next several months.
And all the while, their attorney fees are mounting up.
