Voter fraud charge against Khurana tossed
Feb. 18—The Nez Perce County Prosecutor's Office had to refile a felony voter fraud charge against Praveen Khurana, owner of a former Lewiston restaurant, Wednesday when it wasn't ready to proceed with a preliminary hearing, leading a judge to dismiss the case.
Khurana, 60, made his initial appearance Jan. 27. According to Idaho law, he has the right to a "speedy" preliminary hearing within 21 days of that date. But when Deputy Nez Perce County Prosecutor Jessica Uhrig asked for a delay at Wednesday's scheduled preliminary hearing, Khurana asserted that right. That led Judge Karin Seubert to dismiss the case because the delay would have put the hearing past that 21-day limit.
Uhrig told the court that the prosecution believed the voter fraud charge would be included in Khurana's March 9 mediation on 22 unrelated misdemeanor zoning code violations, and his attorney, Nick Smiley, confirmed that possibility had been discussed. But since the voter fraud case wasn't officially on the calendar for mediation, Khurana could still assert his right to a speedy preliminary hearing.
The charge stems from an alleged Oct. 6 incident when Khurana went to the county's Brammer Building to vote early in the November general election. He told a poll worker that his address was 848 Main St., but when the poll worker scanned Khurana's identification, it showed he was registered to vote at 732 Preston Ave. Khurana began filling out a new voter registration for the Main Street address, but stopped before it was complete and voted under the Preston Avenue address, according to the prosecution.
Khurana had been evicted from that address in late 2018, however. In a separate case, he was charged with felony malicious injury to property for allegedly removing fixtures from the residence. That case is also on the calendar for a March 9 mediation with Senior Judge Carl Kerrick, and a jury trial is scheduled for June if that effort fails.
The 848 Main St. address is the location of Khurana's Emperor of India King Thai restaurant that burned down in a December 2019 fire, leaving a charred husk in Lewiston's historic downtown district that still hasn't been torn down.
The zoning code violations stem from Khurana's alleged failure to clean up the site. Last month, an Idaho State Fire Marshal's investigation found the cause of the fire to be undetermined. Assistant Lewiston City Attorney Kayla Hermann said the city is still awaiting a decision from Khurana's insurance company on whether damages will be covered.
Khurana has pleaded innocent to the charges in each case. The maximum penalty for knowingly signing a poll book while not living in the registered precinct is five years in prison and a $1,000 fine.
Mills may be contacted at jmills@lmtribune.com or at (208) 310-1901, ext. 2266.
