Former Mesa County clerk convicted on 7 charges

You may learn our previous protection of Peters’ trial right here.

Up to date at 8:16 p.m. on Aug. 12, 2024.

Twelve Mesa County jurors discovered Tina Peters responsible of 4 felonies on Monday after a prolonged legal trial, marking yet one more conviction tied to post-2020 election conspiracy theories. 

Peters confronted a complete of 10 legal expenses associated to her position in serving to a person acquire unauthorized entry to voting gear throughout a safe software program replace in Might 2021. The county’s voting machine’s passwords and copies of its arduous drive have been later posted on-line by folks making an attempt to undermine the validity of the election system.

The jury deliberated for round 4 and a half hours Monday afternoon earlier than reaching their choice, which was learn out to a packed courtroom simply after 5 p.m.

Peters was discovered responsible of three counts of making an attempt to affect a public servant and one depend of conspiracy to commit legal impersonation. She was additionally convicted of first-degree official misconduct, violation of responsibility and failure to adjust to an order from the Secretary of State, all misdemeanors.

The jury acquitted Peters on three counts — legal impersonation, conspiracy to commit legal impersonation and id theft.

How did we get right here?

The investigation into Peters’ actions started virtually precisely three years in the past when photos taken throughout a safe replace — together with of machine passwords — surfaced on-line. On the identical time, a duplicate of Mesa County’s arduous drive was displayed and mentioned at a “cyber symposium” hosted by Mike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO who has been on the heart of false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. 

Investigations by the twenty first Judicial District in Mesa County in addition to the Colorado Secretary of State’s workplace discovered that Peters started assembly with folks involved about election integrity in April of 2021, prompted each by the end result of the 2020 presidential election and the outcomes of the spring 2021 Grand Junction municipal election. Peters has mentioned the victory of plenty of extra average candidates made her consider one thing was amiss with the county’s Dominion Voting Methods machines.  

A few of the information within the case have by no means been disputed. Peters admits that in Might 2021, she used the id of a Fruita man named Gerald Wooden to present a distinct man — Conan Hayes, a self-described knowledge professional from California — entry to county voting gear, each to repeat its arduous drive and some days later to attend a safe replace of the machine’s software program. Hayes is a retired surfer with ties to Lindell and his marketing campaign of spreading falsehoods in regards to the nation’s election system. 

“This case was a easy case centered round the usage of deceit to commit a fraud,” prosecutor Robert Shapiro informed the jury throughout his closing arguments on Monday. 

“It is not about computer systems, it isn’t about election data, it is about utilizing deceit to trick and manipulate others, particularly public servants who have been merely making an attempt to do their job.” 

He mentioned the replace of the voting machine software program is a really delicate, secured and confidential course of that Peters violated. 

What did the prosecution and the protection argue within the Tina Peters trial?

The prosecution additionally spent substantial time making an attempt to indicate that Peters knew she’d carried out one thing fallacious, primarily based on her response when the safety breach began to come back to mild. Two former staffers recalled Peters telling them, “I’m f—d.” One added that Peters informed her she was “going to jail.” Peters additionally allegedly informed employees concerned with the plan to get burner telephones and never say something. 

“The defendant was a fox guarding the henhouse. It was her job to guard the election gear and she or he turned on it and used her energy for her personal benefit,” mentioned prosecutor Janet Drake. 

Peters’ protection staff has painted her as a clerk who broke no guidelines by copying her gear’s arduous drives. They are saying every little thing she did was inside her authority to protect election data. 

“There’s additionally no dispute about what was going to occur when the state bought in there to do the trusted construct. They have been going to erase all of the data,” mentioned Protection lawyer John Case throughout his closing remarks. 

Hart Van Denburg/CPR Information

The Secretary of State’s workplace and Dominion Voting Methods dispute the concept the information up to date throughout the safe replace represent ‘election data’ underneath Colorado regulation. In addition they say there are different methods to work with the state to protect any data on the machines previous to the replace.

The nine-day trial was rife with discussions of relevance and admissibility, typically resulting in prolonged delays as attorneys argued exterior the presence of the jury whether or not or not the trial might wade into nationwide conspiracies round Dominion Voting Methods and election outcomes. The protection staff additionally raised the declare, with no proof, that Hayes was one way or the other a authorities informant, or that Peters believed he was an informant whose id wanted to be protected. In closing, Case once more brushed up towards these traces, drawing quite a few objections from prosecutors. 

He mused to jurors about why the jury was not proven the video that was leaked on-line and why Hayes wasn’t subpoenaed for the trial. 

“Properly, why did not they produce him? He is the important thing to the entire case, however they did not have the heart to name him as a witness,” Case mentioned. “They knew what he would say.”

All through the trial, the protection spent appreciable time making an attempt to indicate that Wooden was in on the plan to let Hayes use his ID badge and identify. They emphasised messages the protection mentioned got here from chats on the encrypted app Sign, wherein Wooden communicated with Peters and an area conservative activist Sherronna Bishop, who helped manage the plan to repeat the arduous drives. 

“He knew all alongside,” mentioned Case of Wooden in his closing statements. “That is why he is on this textual content chat. Now what occurred when he was on the stand? I walked up, I confirmed and he seemed like he’d been hit with a four-by-four.” 

Wooden mentioned he couldn’t recall being a part of the textual content message chat labeled “tech staff” however did concede it included his cellular phone quantity and consumer identify. 

Courtesy of Larry Robinson/The Grand Junction Every day Sentinel

Prosecutors urged the jury to not belief Bishop’s testimony, noting the authenticity of the textual content chain hadn’t been corroborated by anybody else and investigators by no means discovered it on any of the gadgets seized from her, Peters or Wooden.  

“In case you consider Sherronna Bishop, then we submit that you’re going to most likely discover Jerry Wooden consented,” Shapiro acknowledged to the jury.

The trial was intently watched due to its ties to broader election conspiracies. Brad Barker lives in Mesa County and usually serves as a volunteer election decide. He’s intently adopted the case and mentioned he was shocked she wasn’t discovered responsible on all counts, however he was happy nonetheless. 

“The jury did a great job going by the counts and I’m happy with the decision,” Barker mentioned, including that he’s slightly extra assured serving to out on the polls this November.

“Hopefully each side of it will be capable of settle for the decision and never fire up an excessive amount of hassle. As an election decide, that might make it tough if it continues to be an issue right here in Mesa County and I simply don’t need that,” Barker mentioned within the hallway after the decision. 

The group that represents Colorado’s clerks expressed satisfaction with the decision.

“Clerks throughout the state are happy to see justice carried out right this moment.  We take critically our position as guardians of the most effective election course of within the nation and are grateful to see the justice system maintain those that would hurt our elections accountable,” mentioned the affiliation’s govt director Matt Crane in an announcement.

Sentencing within the case is ready for Oct. 3.