Well, we might have to wait a while for resolution of the alleged East St. Louis vote buying scheme organized by St. Clair county Democratic Party operatives. The defense is asking that a mistrial be declared.
Read this post and this post for more information on this underreported case. I'm sure elections expert Jim Lampley at Huffington Post is putting his finishing touches on his expose on the East St. Louis vote fraud story.
The whole article is story on the possible mistrial is here, again from the Belleville News-Democrat:
(Prosecution witness Dannita) Youngblood testified that Ellis had telephoned then-Belleville Mayor Mark Kern, the Democratic candidate for St. Clair County Board chairman.
Kern needed to pay the Democratic Party in East St. Louis up to $10 a vote to overcome an alleged perception among black voters that Kern was a racist, Youngblood testified.
The field report that Jimenez wrote up from that May 23 meeting does not mention that allegation involving Kern, while Youngblood admitted she had destroyed her notes from that day.
Bruce Cook, Powell's lawyer, held up a copy of the FBI field report.
"Why didn't you tell Mr. Carr that Kelvin Ellis stated to Kern 'We need to pay $10 to buy votes?'" Cook said.
"I stated that," Youngblood said.
"These things are supposed to be accurate," Cook said, raising the document upward. "That's the whole point here. Is this thing wrong? Has it left out something important?"
Youngblood refused to answer Cook's questions with a simple yes or no.
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