{"id":5796,"date":"2013-09-27T11:24:47","date_gmt":"2013-09-27T15:24:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/?p=5796"},"modified":"2013-09-27T11:28:26","modified_gmt":"2013-09-27T15:28:26","slug":"madison-9-down-to-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2013\/09\/madison-9-down-to-2.html","title":{"rendered":"Madison 9 down to 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

\r\n9 people were arrested just across the Florida line\r\nin Madison on charges similar to the\r\nQuitman 10,\r\nbut on trial all charges have been dropped except for 2,\r\nas\r\n\r\nGeorge Rhynes pointed out<\/a>.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\nInterviewing one of their lawyers 20 December 2012,\r\n\r\nGeorge heard that at least her clients refused to accept plea bargains<\/a>.\r\n

\r\nThe Madison 9 were arrested in November 2011,\r\nand the obvious question came,\r\nas Trymaine Lee wrote for Huffpo 18 January 2013,\r\n\r\nNine Election-Related Arrests In Florida: A Case Of Voter Fraud Or Voter Suppression?<\/a>\r\n

\r\n

\r\nAs soon as Judy Ann Crumitie answered the banging on her door one\r\nNovember morning last year, police officers and FBI agents streamed\r\ninto her home, some with their guns drawn and trained in her\r\ndirection.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nThey barked, Did she have any weapons, Crumitie recalled.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nThe next thing she knew officers were rushing through her house\r\nsearching for who knows what. She’d know soon enough.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n“I was just trying to help the people vote,” Crumitie, 51, told the\r\nHuffington Post’s Black Voices.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nCrumitie, of Madison, Fla. — along with eight other people\r\n— was arrested and charged with voter fraud in connection to a\r\nlocal school board election in 2010. The incident came just months\r\nafter a new law was passed in Florida that made it illegal for\r\nabsentee ballots to be sent anywhere other than a voter’s registered\r\naddress.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nLawyers for Crumitie would not elaborate on the circumstances of her\r\narrest or the charges. But they said that the incident and the way\r\nofficials handled the investigation and ultimately her arrests\r\n— including entering her home with guns drawn and without a\r\nsearch warrant — are part of a broader political movement\r\nacross the state and country to suppress poor and minority voters.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\nIt also didn’t take long for talk of a countersuit,\r\nas News Talk Florida wrote 18 January 2013,\r\n\r\n\u201cMadison 9\u2033 Attorney Announces Suit Against State <\/a>,\r\n

\r\n

\r\nThe attorney for those known as the “Madison Nine” for\r\nbeing defendants in a north Florida voting-fraud case says he plans\r\nto sue the Florida Department of Law Enforcement over their arrests.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\nAttorney Benjamin Crump of Tallahassee appeared Tuesday outside Gov.\r\nRick Scott’s office in the Capitol to announce his plans. Madison\r\nCounty’s top elections official and a school board member are among\r\nthose charged.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nCrump said the arrests were wrongful and done with improper force.\r\nFDLE has maintained the arrests were lawful.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nSupervisor of Elections Jada Woods Williams is charged in an\r\nabsentee-ballot scheme to help elect school board member Abra\r\n“Tina” Johnson in 2010. Johnson also faces charges. Gov.\r\nRick Scott has suspended both of them.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\nQuite like \r\nGeorgia governor Nathan Deal suspending the Quitman 10\r\nmembers<\/a> who were elected to the Brooks County school board.\r\n

\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\nAnd it didn’t take long for some of the Madison 9 charges to unravel.\r\nGarin Flowers wrote for WCTV 15 January 2013,\r\n\r\nJan 2013 Charges dropped for 1<\/a>,\r\n

\r\n

\r\nLaverne Haynes, Tina Johnson and Judy Ann Crumitie are all hopeful.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nThey’re facing charges of voter fraud, and Monday they found out\r\nthat someone facing the same charges had theirs dropped.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nTina Johnson, Madison Nine, stated, “we just trying to just do the\r\nbest we can, but it’s really been rough,” Johnson said.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nJudy Ann Crumitie, Madison Nine: “we just got caught up in a ordeal\r\nthat it really shouldn’t have happened,” Crumitie said.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nLaverne Haynes, Madison Nine, “it’s like a rollercoaster, we’ve had\r\nhighs, we’ve had lows,” Haynes said.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nKnown as the Madison 9, they all asked a judge to completely dismiss\r\ntheir case, claiming they did nothing wrong.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nThat worked for Montollis Roberson, the only one so far who had that\r\nto happen.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\nAfter a bit more than a year,\r\nalmost all of the charges had unravelled.\r\nGeorge was there that day, 23 January 2013,\r\n\r\ninterviewing a lawyer who came from Tallahassee to help<\/a>.\r\n

\r\nGarin Flowers wrote for WCTV 31 May 2013,\r\n\r\n31 May 2013 Judge denies motion to dismiss charges for last 2<\/a>,\r\n

\r\n

\r\nTina Johnson and her husband, Earnest Johnson, petitioned a judge\r\ntwo weeks ago to drop the voter fraud charges the two face.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nThat request was denied, and they will go to trial.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

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