After intense anticipation at the Hughes County courthouse last night, the case of State vs. Annette Bosworth reached a final verdict, guilty on all 12 counts.

The jury was thought to have reached a verdict earlier in the evening on Wednesday May 27, 2015, but conversed with the judge and went back into deliberations.

Jurors issued their verdict against the 43-year-old physician and one time Senate Candidate shortly after 8:00 PM. An unnamed juror read of the final guilty verdict in front of a small, but dedicated crowd of Bosworth supporters.

The six counts each of perjury and filing false documents stemming from the mishandling of her candidate petitions. Bosworth has acknowledged she was out of the country on a medical mission trip during dates she attested that she'd witnessed people signing her candidate petitions. She said her political consultant and attorney misled her with bad advice.

The attorney, Joel Arends, denied the allegation during the trial, which began last week.

Kevin Larsen of KCCR Radio reports that after the announcement of the guilty charges, there were some tears amongst Bosworth supporters, but Bosworth herself did not shed a tear.

She hugged her husband, Chad Baber, as they were leaving the courthouse. She did not have any comments about the verdict. Convictions could jeopardize Bosworth's medical license.

Multiple people from across the state, including Bosworth, thought this case was all about political persecution and a personal vendetta by Attorney General Marty Jackley.

Judge John Brown issued sentencing for Bosworth on July 1st in the afternoon at the Hughes County Courthouse.

All 12 counts against Bosworth are class six felonies, each punishable by a maximum sentence of 2 years in prison and/or a 4,000 dollar fine.

Attorney General Marty Jackley announced:

I want to thank our citizen jurors for their service, the prosecutors and the witnesses for preserving the integrity of our election process in South Dakota,” said Jackley.
Bosworth was indicted in June 19, 2014, on multiple counts of perjury and filing false election documents for attesting to voter signatures for her nomination petitions for United States Senate while she was out of the country.
The case is being investigated by the Division of Criminal Investigation and prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office.

 

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