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Dougherty Found Guilty on 13 Additional Counts

From staff reports

Gate City’s former mayor will serve slightly more than a year in jail following his second conviction last week on 13 counts of election fraud.

On Dec.12 Charles Dougherty Jr. was found guilty by a jury of his peers on 13 of 15 accounts of aiding and abetting and absentee ballot fraud. Two of the charges were dropped after the witness on those particular counts had passed away.

The case featured not only a new prosecutor but also a new judge. Judge Charles Flanagan was presiding over the case in the absence of Birg Sergent, who was attending a mandatory meeting at the Appalachia School of Law.

Botetourt County Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney John Alexander was filling in for his boss, Joel Branscom, who has been out of the office after his wife gave birth to their son.

It only took about an hour and a half of deliberating for the jury to return a guilty verdict on 13 of the 15 counts. They recommended a sentence of 28 days in jail and $1,500 fine on each of the 13 guilty verdicts.

For his second conviction, Dougherty will spend 364 days in jail and $19,500 in fines. In July he was found guilty of 16 other counts of voter fraud and was fined $2,000 on each of the 16 counts ($32,000) and ordered to serve 2 days in jail on each of the 16 counts (a total of 32 days).

During his opening argument Alexander explained the plan to win the mayoral position for Dougherty involved getting people to vote absentee.

He outlined the events that had taken place during the May 2004 election and said the case was about taking advantage of people.

“Why would you take people to the polls not knowing if you were actually hurting yourself by them voting for the opposition on the ballot?” queried Alexander. “However, you wouldn’t have to worry about the vote if you were in the room with them.

“Absentee voting was the answer, but the trick is to have the people qualify, and these are the laws violated in this case. Ms. Overbey, Kelly Dixon just down the hall - this was one-stop shopping for Mr. Dougherty at Clinch View Manor Apartments on Jay Street.”

Dougherty’s attorney Carl McAfee argued that all of the witnesses involved in the case were allowed to vote for the candidate they wanted to. McAfee tried to shift blame for the votes cast onto employees in the Scott County Registrar’s office.

The defense attorney explained the people involved had the right to vote and weren’t intimidated into voting for Dougherty. Some of the time, McAfee said these people voted absentee in front of the registrar and not out on the street.

Alexander debunked McAfee’s argument by stating it was illegal for these people to vote and that Dougherty fooled them into committing a crime.

Maxie Overbey, a resident of Clinch View Manor Apartments, testified Dougherty had visited her the day (Dec. 10) before the trial and wondered how she was doing.

“He came to check on me to see how I was getting along,” Overbey said. “He stood there a minute and then asked where Kelly [Dixon] was.”

During her testimony she said she signed a paper that Dougherty told her allowed her to vote for him. Overbey didn’t recall actually marking a ballot but acknowledged she had signed the blank application.

Sherry Lambert and her daughter, Charity Lambert, testified that Dougherty told them they could vote early rather than waiting until Election Day. According to their absentee applications, the pair was going to be in West Virginia on May 4, 2004.

But Sherry Lambert testified she went to the Dollar General Store on that day and felt excited because she had voted early and didn’t have to battle the crowds at town hall.

"I felt like I'd done better than them," Lambert testified. "I had it over with and I didn't have to take a bath or clean up or anything."

Dougherty also asked some family members to vote absentee in the election.

His aunt, Ivel Lawson, testified that Dougherty and former councilman Steve Williams took her to the registrar’s office May 1, 2004. She was reluctant to go because she planned to vote on Election Day.

Lawson testified that Dougherty insisted she come with them so she could vote absentee. According to her absentee application, Lawson was going to be in the hospital the day of the election due to an illness.

She testified she had no such illness and was not in the hospital that election day. She also, made it know that she did not write that on the form. Lawson agreed she had signed the form at the bottom left of the sheet and was only doing what she was told to do while at the registrar’s office.

Under cross examination, Lawson stated she signed the forms but didn’t know who filled them out.

Dougherty’s former daughter-in-law, Heather Dougherty, clearly didn’t want to testify in the case. She explained her former father-in-law persuaded her to go to the registrar’s office with him in order to vote early.

She said that Williams and Scott County Registrar Willie Mae Kilgore were present when she voted. According to the absentee application, Heather Dougherty had to work from 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., which she testified was incorrect because she worked the night shift.

Consumed with emotion Heather Dougherty stated that she felt that the reason that she was there that day was to vote for Dougherty.

Gregory Lane testified he had never voted in an election before and was unfamiliar with procedure. He recalled Dougherty, Anderson, the registrar and possibly another woman were in the registrar’s office that day.

“Charles said to Willie that I was going to be in Ohio,” Lane testified.

But Lane explained he never went to Ohio during that 2004 election.

Bertha Gibson of Kingsport, Tenn. testified she signed the absentee application but didn’t fill out the top part about her address and social security number. At the time of the election, Gibson lived in Clinch View Manor Apartments and recalled Dougherty and former councilman Jack Anderson coming to visit her. She did say she signed the form but didn’t put down any other information including her social security number.

Gibson explained that she had never memorized her social security number and would have had to get her purse to enter the number on the form.

Kelly Dixon, also a resident of Clinch View Manor Apartments, told the court he could have voted in person if he wanted to and he wasn’t confined to his home as stated on his absentee application.

The day began with the challenge of selecting a jury. The task was set for Alexander and defense attorney Carl McAfee to strike 10 juror candidates from a random selected 24 persons to establish a 14 person jury (two of which were alternates).

During jury questioning the question was asked if anyone had read or heard about the events prior to the trial regarding the mayor election of 2004 Charles Dougherty versus Mark Jenkins.

Jenkins’ cousin Nancy Meade quipped, “You would have had to been in California not to have heard about it.” Meade was not selected for the jury.

Dougherty did not testify on his own behalf and McAfee didn’t call any witnesses during his defense.

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