On Wednesday, former Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux’s voter misconduct trial was postponed until November because of new evidence submitted by prosecution the day prior. The trial was scheduled to begin Thursday.
The trial has been rescheduled at least four times since LeDoux and two associates were first accused of voter misconduct and unlawful interference with voting in 2020, which includes five felonies. LeDoux is accused of encouraging people who lived outside her district to vote for her in the 2018 primary and general elections for State House.
In an evidentiary hearing at the Nesbett Courthouse on Tuesday, state prosecutor Jenna Gruenstein apologized to LeDoux’s attorney, Kevin Fitzgerald, and to the court for failing to submit audio evidence of law enforcement interviews until earlier that day. The evidence was noted in a report, she said, but acknowledged that “obviously that’s not the same as the audios themselves.” She described the situation as an oversight and an error by the prosecution.
In court on Wednesday, Fitzgerald said that while some of the new materials were duplicative or related to a prior investigation involving the FBI, he plans to call on some of the witnesses involved in the new material. The defense then requested a continuance.
“I haven’t come to this decision lightly. I know this matter has dragged on for a very long period of time,” Fitzgerald said to the court. “Were it not that I didn’t think that I could necessarily do justice to Ms. LeDoux’s due process rights, or have some concerns in that respect, I would proceed forward.”
In an interview on Wednesday, Fitzgerald said that he was determined to avoid a continuance earlier in the month when Lisa Simpson, LeDoux’s former chief of staff, signed a plea agreement. Simpson was accused of being part of LeDoux’s voter misconduct scheme and agreed to potentially testify against LeDoux.
Despite the agreement being a “big event” in this case, “at that point, I said ‘no, we’re going to plow forward, and the reason we’re going to plow forward — despite that turn of events — is because Gabrielle has been waiting a very long time to get this done,’” said Fitzgerald.
Superior Court Judge Kevin Saxby said that continuance seemed like the appropriate response to the new material, and rescheduled the trial for Nov. 18, 2024.
Outside of the courtroom on Wednesday, Fitzgerald said that LeDoux was “disappointed” by the postponement.
“She wanted this done,” Fitzgerald said.
