Tina Peters, former Mesa County, Colorado, clerk, found guilty on seven counts • Nebraska Examiner

A Mesa County jury discovered Tina Peters responsible Monday on seven of 10 felony fees associated to a safety breach that occurred within the spring of 2021 within the elections workplace she oversaw because the Mesa County clerk and recorder.

The jury returned the decision simply hours after closing arguments.

Peters was discovered responsible on three felony counts of making an attempt to affect a public servant, one felony depend of felony impersonation, one misdemeanor depend of official misconduct, one misdemeanor depend of violation of obligation in elections, and one misdemeanor depend of failure to adjust to the secretary of state. She was acquitted on two felony counts of felony impersonation and one felony depend of identification theft.

“Tina Peters willfully compromised her personal election tools attempting to show Trump’s Large Lie,” Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold mentioned in an announcement after the decision was introduced within the Mesa County District Court docket of Choose Matthew Barrett. “She has been discovered responsible by a jury of her friends and can now face the implications of her actions. Right this moment’s verdict sends a transparent message: we won’t tolerate any effort to threaten the safety of our gold normal elections. I’m proud that justice for Colorado voters has been served at present.”

Griswold’s workplace opened an investigation into Peters in August 2021 after it realized that delicate Mesa County election system information had been posted on-line. In 2022, a Mesa County grand jury charged Peters for her function in a scheme to permit an unauthorized particular person to enter Mesa County’s elections division to make copies of election system software program and seize photographs of passwords and different delicate information in Might 2021, in the course of the time of an election tools software program replace, also referred to as a trusted construct.

The scheme represented an occasion wherein election deniers aligned with former President Donald Trump discovered a keen county clerk in Colorado to deceive different public servants in an try to show election tools in Mesa County was by some means corruptible.

Peters declined to remark after the decision and informed reporters she would achieve this at a later time.

In his closing statements following the eight-day trial, the prosecution’s Robert Shapiro, first assistant Colorado legal professional normal for particular prosecutions, mentioned Peters opened up her workplace and herself to exterior individuals to permit a safety breach of Mesa County’s election tools.

The case includes “layers upon layers of deceit,” with lots of people working with Peters to perform the fraud, Shapiro mentioned.

A type of individuals was Kurt Olsen, an affiliate of MyPillow CEO and outstanding Trump ally Mike Lindell, an election denier. Shapiro reminded jurors that Peters informed Olsen that she was “at his disposal” and was there to assist in their endeavors.

Others, in keeping with prosecutors, included Ohio mathematician Douglas Frank, an election conspiracy theorist on Lindell’s payroll; Conan Hayes, a former skilled surfer-turned conspiracy theorist from California; and Sherronna Bishop, a good friend of Peters who didn’t reside in or work for Mesa County but had an integral function in orchestrating a scheme to permit Hayes into the safe elections space the place the breach occurred.

Shapiro mentioned Peters duped a Dominion Voting Methods worker and secretary of state employees members when she allowed an unauthorized particular person — Hayes — to be a part of the trusted construct on Might 25 and 26, 2021, beneath the pretense that he was a Mesa County worker.

Based on prosecutors, Hayes entered the elections room on Might 23, when workplaces have been closed and cameras had been turned off, to make a duplicate of the software program of the elections system onerous drive. On Might 25, he returned to the room for the trusted construct attended by Peters, plus representatives from the secretary of state and Dominion Voting Methods.

Surveillance cameras had beforehand been shut off on Might 17, regardless of a longtime coverage in Mesa County to depart cameras on 24/7.

Contradicting testimonies

Shapiro described how Peters employed Gerald Wooden, a Fruita resident, for the aim of utilizing his identification to acquire safety clearance for Hayes so he might enter safe election areas posing as Wooden. Wooden went via a background examine and obtained a safety entry badge solely to be requested by considered one of Peters’ employees members to offer it again just a few days later.

Throughout the trial and shutting statements, protection attorneys tried to color Wooden as a keen participant within the scheme.

Shapiro mentioned the one witness who testified that Wooden was in on the plan was Bishop, who in keeping with prosecutors helped orchestrate the breach. Bishop is taken into account by prosecutors an unindicted co-conspirator.

Bishop’s testimony contradicted Wooden’s sworn statements that he knew nothing of the plan and that he didn’t grant permission to offer his identification to a 3rd get together. Shapiro mentioned Bishop was not a reputable witness.

“No different witness supported Sherronna Bishop’s account,” Shapiro mentioned.

Hayes was an out of doors imposter who used Wooden’s identification to repeat delicate information, Shapiro mentioned.