Former Democratic chairman Morgan, co-defendant Blythe convicted in petition forgery trial

Editor's note: This story was originally published April 26, 2013.

SOUTH BEND — Guilty. On all counts.

That was the verdict late Thursday in the forgery trial involving former chair of the county Democratic Party Butch Morgan and party member Dustin Blythe, who were accused of conspiring to forge signatures on petitions to place Democratic candidates on the state primary ballot in 2008.

It came just after 8 p.m., after about three hours of deliberation.

Morgan was convicted on two counts of felony conspiracy to commit petition fraud and two counts of felony conspiracy to commit forgery, and Blythe was convicted on nine counts of felony forgery and one count of felony falsifying a petition.

Following the verdict, Superior Court Judge John Marnocha set a sentencing date of June 17. He also moved the sentencing date for co-defendants Pam Brunette and Bev Shelton from May 9 to that same date.

All four defendants were charged in the case last April, following an investigation by The Tribune and Howey Politics Indiana into suspected ballot petition fraud in the state’s 2nd Congressional District and, more specifically, St. Joseph County.

Of the four defendants, Morgan and Blythe were the only two to go to trial.

Shelton, for her part, pleaded guilty to one count of felony forgery and one count of felony falsifying a petition on March 28 as part of a plea agreement under which, in exchange for her cooperation, the state agreed to recommend she receive no jail time.

Brunette, meanwhile, pleaded guilty to one count of felony forgery, one count of felony official misconduct and one count of felony falsifying a petition on April 9. Three other charges against her were dropped at that time.

Both women testified against Morgan and Blythe during the trial.

The four will be sentenced at the same time June 17 — 1:30 in the afternoon.

Speaking to The Tribune after the verdict, deputy prosecutor Christopher Fronk, who prosecuted the case alongside special prosecutor Stanley Levco, admitted to a sense of relief and satisfaction.

"Anytime people manipulate or attempt to meddle with the election process it's a bigger deal than it seems," Fronk said. "So it was gratifying to have the jury come back guilty on all counts."

Now convicted, Morgan faces up to 22 years in prison. Shelton faces up to 11 years, Brunette faces up to 14 years, and Blythe faces up to 75 years.

Prior to the case going to the jury Thursday, Morgan took the stand to testify on his own behalf.

Dressed in a black suit and with his hair parted neatly down the middle, the accused former party leader said he never instructed anyone to forge signatures on petitions to place Democratic candidates on the state primary ballot in 2008.

He also denied holding a meeting at Democratic Headquarters on Monday, Jan. 21, 2008, to discuss such a scheme, noting he was out of the office most of that day.

That contradicted what Lucas Burkett said Tuesday.

One of the state's key witnesses, Burkett said he, Brunette and Shelton, all of whom worked in the office of Voter Registration at the time, walked over to Democratic Headquarters during lunch on that date at Morgan's request.Once there, he said, Morgan instructed them to copy names on petitions to place gubernatorial candidate Jim Schellinger on the state Democratic primary ballot onto petitions to place Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton on the ballot.

Not true, Morgan said.

"On Monday, Jan. 21, 2008, county offices were closed because of Martin Luther King Jr. Day," Morgan said.

That fact, previously unmentioned, was the only surprise during about 75 minutes of testimony.

And it was one the prosecution never attempted to address.

Morgan also was asked about his duties as county chair, and whether they included collecting signatures for candidates for federal or statewide office.

No, Morgan said.

"Is it fair to say though that you would assist if you could?" defense attorney Mike Tuszynski asked.

"Yes," Morgan responded.

Morgan also said he never heard anyone express any concerns about there being a shortage of signatures for any Democratic candidate in 2008.

Asked about strategy meetings among him and his three co-defendants, Blythe, Brunette and Shelton, after charges were filed in the case, he admitted to attending some but said he never organized any.

The prosecution on Wednesday attempted to portray those meetings as further evidence of the alleged conspiracy.Asked when he first suspected Brunette and Shelton might be guilty, Morgan said it was when Shelton accepted a plea agreement in March and when, a few days later, he read her statement to police, which implicated Brunette.

Morgan resigned as county chair in September 2011, just a few days after The Tribune and Howey Politics Indiana first broke the story about the forged petitions based, in part, on information provided by Burkett.

Asked about that decision, Morgan said, "I didn't want it (the story) to be a detriment or take away or distract from the candidates who were running for office at that time. I just felt it was best … to resign and work to clear my name."

During cross-examination, special prosecutor Stanley Levco focused on Morgan's statement regarding when he first knew Brunette might be guilty in the case.

He asked Morgan why he would question Brunette's innocence based on Shelton's statement to police. After all, he said, Shelton implicated him as well.

"Why would you even think it was possible that what (Shelton) said about Pam was true if everything else (supposedly) was a lie?" he said.

Morgan said he was confused and upset at the time and didn't know what to believe.

Levco also submitted into evidence a printed document. He said the document contained information about how the four co-defendants could beat the charges against them and that it was produced by Morgan.

Asked if he recognized the document and if it was true that he produced it, Morgan said no.

Levco later recalled Shelton and Brunette as rebuttal witnesses. Both identified the document and said they received it from Morgan at one of the group's strategy meetings.

Blythe did not take the stand.

Following Morgan's testimony, during closing arguments, Jeffrey Kimmell, representing Blythe, attacked the character and credibility of the state's three key witnesses, Burkett, Shelton and Brunette.

He said Blythe was "being drug into this by the likes of Lucas Burkett, an admitted forger who got off scot-free."

He also attempted to cast doubt on the methods and conclusions of the state's forensic document examiner, Courtney King, whose work linked Blythe to some of the forged petition pages.

"Science doesn't change, opinions do," he said. "And her opinions are not science."

Given his turn, Tuszynski posited that Brunette, Shelton and Burkett, on their own, hatched a plan to forge the signatures to cover up for the fact that they had somehow lost a number of petition pages.

"They may have come up with a plan to fix this problem," he said, "but there is no evidence, let alone evidence beyond a reasonable doubt, that Butch Morgan was a part of it."

Levco, for his part, questioned what motive Brunette and Shelton might have to do such a thing.

"The only reason they would do it is because (Morgan) told them to," he said.

Ultimately, the jury sided with Levco.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Former Dem chair Morgan and Blythe convicted in petition forgery trial