Vegas judge dismisses Trump elector charges

A Las Vegas judge dismissed charges Friday against six Republicans who served as electors for President Trump in the 2020 election.

Electors Eileen Rice, Shawn Meehan and Jim DeGraffenried are all Douglas County residents.

According to media reports, District Judge Mary Kay Holthus agreed she lacked jurisdiction to hear the case on Friday afternoon.

A spokesman for Attorney General Aaron Ford’s said they plan to appeal the case to the Supreme Court.

“We disagree with the judge's decision and will be appealing immediately,” John T. Sadler said on Friday afternoon.

The Record-Courier reached out to all three Douglas electors about the news.

Since Ford intends to appeal the case, Commission Chairman Wes Rice, said he and wife Eileen won’t be commenting. Meehan also declined comment.

In addition to the trio of Douglas residents, the indictment also charged Michael McDonald, Jesse Law and Durward James Hindle III.

The Clark County Grand Jury heard the case and issued the six indictments dated Dec. 5. The three-year statute of limitations on the accusations expired the following week.

All six were charged with offering a false instrument for filing, a category C felony, and uttering a forged instrument, a category D felony, for offering a false instrument titled “Certificate of the Votes of the 2020 Electors from Nevada” to the President of the Senate; the Archivist of the United States; the Nevada Secretary of State; and the U. S. District Court for the District of Nevada.

Should the Supreme Court uphold Holthus’ decision, the case could not be refiled because of the expiration of the statute of limitations, according to several media sources.

The appeal may be an uphill battle for Ford.

The Supreme Court ruled in the case of serial killer Wilber Martinez-Guzman that he had to be tried in Douglas County where two of his victims were killed. Prosecutors tried to have the entire case heard in Washoe County where Martinez-Guzman was indicted by the grand jury.

Whether justices will apply that same logic to the elector case remains to be seen.