By By Marianne Todd/The Meridian Star
FEB. 6, 2001
Citing the need to avoid a situation in which a nephew would be required testify against his uncle, prosecutors Monday dismissed one count of false registration against Lauderdale County Supervisor Ray Boswell.
Boswell pleaded not guilty to all nine counts in August after a grand jury indicted him in July on seven counts of false voter registration and two counts of attempted false voter registration in a November 1999 election.
The state in its motion to dismiss the charge said Boswell was accused of procuring false voter registration through his nephew, Joseph Wayne Boswell, but that his nephew had "previously expressed his reluctance to testify in this trial …"
Because both Lauderdale County Circuit Judges Larry Roberts and Robert Bailey recused themselves in the case, Madison County Circuit Judge Robert L. Goza will preside over the Feb. 20 trial.
Lee Martin, head of Attorney General Mike Moore's Public Integrity Division, said he and defense attorneys Robert Jones and Joe Clay Hamilton met privately on Monday to discuss several proposed motions in the case. Because the parties were able to reach an amicable agreement, the motions were dropped and a court date was set, he said.
Marianne Todd is a staff writer for
The Meridian Star. E-mail her at mtodd@themeridianstar.com.