MONTGOMERY— Former Secretary of State Nancy Worley has waited one year to find out if she will be tried on felony charges — or only misdemeanor charges — for a campaign packet she sent to her employees.
A Montgomery judge threw out five felony charges against Worley on July 11, 2007. Attorney General Troy King immediately announced that he would ask the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals to reinstate the charges.
A year later, Worley, a Democrat, and King, a Republican, are waiting for a ruling from the all-Republican appellate court.
In an interview Thursday, Worley called the charges “partisan politics at its worst” and said she’s eager to clear her name. But she said she’s found out that there’s truth to an old saying.
“You know they say the wheels of justice grind slowly,” she said.
The Court of Criminal Appeals releases decisions each Friday. Worley said she calls her attorney every Friday to see if there is a decision, and the answer is always “no.”
A spokesman for Attorney General Troy King disputes her claim of partisan politics and says that while it is an anxious time for both sides, the wait is not unusual.
“This is unfortunately customary,” spokesman Chris Bence said.
“When a court takes something under advisement, we are both put in time out and we are waiting to re-ring the bell,” he said.
Even though Worley is no longer secretary of state, she remains a high-profile political figure in Alabama because of her role as the No. 2 official of the Alabama Democratic Party and a member of the Democratic National Committee.
Her legal troubles stem from a campaign letter, bumper sticker and campaign contribution envelope she sent to employees in the secretary of state’s office during her unsuccessful re-election campaign in 2006.
The attorney general launched an investigation after one of her employees complained. Worley got indicted by a Montgomery County grand jury on March 9, 2007 — about two months after leaving office.
The grand jury indicted her on five felony charges of using her official position to influence the vote or political action of five employees in her office. It also indicted her on five misdemeanor charges of soliciting a campaign contribution from five employees.
The felony charges are more serious than the misdemeanors. The felonies carry up to two years in prison and a $10,000 fine. The misdemeanors carry up to one year in jail and a $2,000 fine.
On July 11, 2007, Montgomery County Circuit Judge Truman Hobbs Jr. tossed out the five felonies, but left the misdemeanors. The Democratic judge ruled the felony law was unconstitutionally vague and overly broad.
Hobbs wrote that “under the reading encouraged by the state, it would be a misdemeanor to ask an employee for a financial contribution but a felony to ask somebody to put a bumper sticker on their car. It just can’t be.”
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