The Resolution of Election Disputes: Legal Principles that Control Election Challenges 816 So.2d 349 816 So.2d 349, 36,366 (La.App. 2 Cir. 4/23/02) (Cite as: 816 So.2d 349, 36,366 (La.App. 2 Cir. 4/23/02)) beers. However, her testimony indicates that rather than voting for two and four in order to receive beers or cigarettes, she simply voted for two and four because she thought that was the way she was supposed to vote. Teresa Morris testified next. She is the sister of dismissed plaintiff Johnny Ray Carpenter. She testified to voting absentee, and to being taken to vote by Lip. She stated she was given a paper for the Mayor and Phelps, and that Lip promised her $5.00. However, she stated that she did not vote the two numbers she was given. The next witness, Freddie Lee Jackson, also testified to being taken by Lip to vote. However, he indicated that Lip did not promise him anything, but bought him "a drink" after he voted. Although Lip gave him a card with the numbers two and four on it, he voted one and three. Dycie Moore was the next witness. She is the wife of Uvonne Moore, also known as Slug. Like the witnesses before her, she testified to voting absentee and to being picked up by Lip who took her to the courthouse to vote. Afterwards, he bought her a cigar and a can of beer. Although Lip gave a paper with the numbers two and four on it, she voted one and four. When specifically questioned, she stated that she voted number four that day because she wanted to and would still vote that way. Likewise, she voted for number one on her own. Plaintiff Johnny Ray Carpenter testified next. At this point, the testimony shifted from vote buying to the activities surrounding the plaintiffs' grand jury indictments and subsequent arrests. Essentially, Carpenter testified that in the week before the election he was occupied with **8 being called before the grand jury and was unable to get out and campaign. He stated that he would have been able to get between two and three hundred votes for Nugent if he had not had to be at the grand jury. He was indicted by the grand jury on 103 counts, and was arrested on a *355 Thursday night. He was unsuccessful in trying to get the judge to set bond, so he spent the night in jail along with Doris Abrams and Shelia White. The next morning he learned that the D.A. had filed a motion "to deny bond." Bond was not set until the Monday after the election, keeping Carpenter from voting. Carpenter testified he would have voted for Nugent 348 Page 5 and would have campaigned for Nugent. Winn Parish District Attorney Terry Reeves was next to testify. He stated that the grand jury that indicted the dismissed plaintiffs in 2002 had been impaneled in 2001 to investigate the WHA. Reeves denied as "absolutely, totally untrue" and "a specious lie" that he manipulated this grand jury to prevent the dismissed plaintiffs from getting out and politicking for plaintiff. He also denied telling Assistant District Attorney Lewis to file a motion to keep the plaintiffs in jail over the weekend. Reeves testified that he was aware that a bond motion was filed, [FN2] but he did not file it. The bond motion was filed by Lewis, and Reeves could not remember if he had discussed it with Lewis before the motion was filed. FN2. While the testimony does not specify the nature of the bond hearing, the plaintiffs' petition alleges it was a C.Cr.P. art. 330.1 hearing. Next to testify was Shelia White. She indicated that she was indicted by the grand jury and was not allowed to vote on election day. The trial court did not allow her to testify concerning the alleged $100,000 check **9 mentioned in the petition. She stated that her appearance before the grand jury prevented her from campaigning for her candidate, Chief Nugent, and that after being arrested she, like Carpenter, spent Thursday night in jail. On Friday morning, she learned that there must be a bond hearing before she could post bond. She was released from jail on Monday afternoon. She indicated that she had been indicted for three counts of theft, malfeasance in office, and injuring public records. Doris Abrams testified next. Her testimony was very much like that of Carpenter and White--had she not been in jail, she would have politicked and voted for Nugent. She was indicted on 18 counts including theft, injuring public records, and fraud. Before the last witness testified, counsel for plaintiff indicated that he had been told that Lip wanted to testify. The court noted that he initially had invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to testify, but now wished to recant. The court concluded that Lip obviously had talked to someone, and denied his request to testify. No proffer was attempted © 2006 Thomson/West. No Claim to Orig. U.S. Govt. Works.