Lawyer seeks reversal of rare voting conviction he shares with suffragist Susan B. Anthony
A New York City lawyer found guilty of illegal voting in 1999 may be the only individual in the state convicted of not registering to vote from his correct address since suffragist Susan B. Anthony openly defied the prohibition against women voting and cast her ballot in Rochester in 1872.
It took three trials for the Brooklyn district attorney’s office to win a conviction against John O’Hara. He has long since paid his debt to society, which included a fine and restitution of more than $15,000 and 1,500 hours of community service focused on picking up garbage and cleaning public toilets, according to the New York Daily News and the New York Times (reg. req.). Plus, the felony conviction resulted in his disbarment, although he was later reinstated.
However, the 53-year-old Democratic political activist is still seeking vindication, and the time may be right, now that a new district attorney is in office, for him to succeed, the newspapers say.
O’Hara’s crime–registering using his girlfriend’s address instead of his own home some 14 blocks away–was the result of selective prosecution by former Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes, contends O’Hara in a Brooklyn Supreme Court motion filed Thursday seeking to vacate his conviction. A voter registration card shows the former DA himself appeared to list a municipal address as his residence at one time, the filing alleges.
“Hynes singled out O’Hara for prosecution, as an act of political retribution, while turning a blind eye to similar acts by others, including, most extraordinarily, himself and others in his own prosecutorial office,” the filing says.
The New York Law Journal (sub. req.) provides a copy of the brief motion (PDF) by O’Hara’s attorney, Joel B. Rudin.
It asserts O’Hara’s state and federal constitutional rights, including free speech, equal protection and due process.
A lawyer for the former DA declined to comment when contacted by the Daily News. The current Brooklyn DA, Kenneth Thompson, said Thursday that he is aware of the appeal and his office “will review this matter closely and determine if his conviction should stand.”
Anthony, the Times notes, was fined $100 in her voting case, but never paid.
See also:
ABAJournal.com: “Long-time Brooklyn DA loses primary bid; winner hopes to curb stop and frisk”
ABAJournal.com: “Ex-Brooklyn DA may have used $200K in forfeited funds for political consultant, report alleges”
