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Former Sec. Of State White's Lawyer: Law Was Misapplied In Voter Fraud Conviction

Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White
State of Indiana
Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White

An attorney for former Secretary of State Charlie White says Indiana law was misapplied when White was convicted in 2012 of six criminal counts stemming from voter fraud.

White’s appeal included several arguments – the jury wasn’t properly instructed, selective prosecution, his attorney at the time – Carl Brizzi – was ineffective. 

But when pressed by the Appeals Court judges for the strongest argument, White’s current attorney Andrea Ciobanu says it’s misapplication of the law. 

White was registered to vote at his ex-wife’s home in Fishers.  Prosecutors argued he was really living at a new residence in Fishers, referred to as Overview, with his soon-to-be second wife. 

But Ciobanu says White’s residence was the ex-wife’s house because  he hadn’t yet moved to Overview.

“That was considered his domicile because it goes to intent and conduct," Ciobanu says. "Because you can have many different abodes, you can many different places that you live.”

Ciobanu says the fact that White’s only immediate family – his son – was still living at the ex-wife’s residence also bolsters the claim.  But state attorney Justin Roebel says there was plenty of evidence White was living at Overview, including a mortgage application.

“And a lease, and a homestead deduction, tells the Indy Star that he’s been living there, tells his employer he’s been living there,” Roebel told the court.

The judges did not set a timetable for their ruling.

Brandon Smith is excited to be working for public radio in Indiana. He has previously worked in public radio as a reporter and anchor in mid-Missouri for KBIA Radio out of Columbia. Prior to that, he worked for WSPY Radio in Plano, Illinois as a show host, reporter, producer and anchor. His first job in radio was in another state capitol, in Jefferson City, Missouri, as a reporter for three radio stations around Missouri. Brandon graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Bachelor of Journalism in 2010, with minors in political science and history. He was born and raised in Chicago.