LITTLE ROCK — State Democratic officials were reconsidering the party’s lawsuit to remove a state House candidate’s name from the ballot Thursday after a judge expunged his felony conviction.
Chicot County Circuit Judge Sam Pope issued an order Wednesday dismissing Fred Smith’s 2011 prosecution and conviction of theft of property delivered by mistake.
The Democratic Party of Arkansas filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking to remove Smith’s name from the state House District 50 ballot because of the felony conviction.
Party officials have said that at the time Smith filed as a Democratic candidate on March 1, he told them his conviction was expunged or was being expunged, but they later learned the conviction was still on the books.
Smith has completed “all of the written conditions of his (one-year) suspended imposition of sentence, including payment of restitution and costs as ordered by the clerk,” the judge’s order states.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The order also notes that the state argued that because Smith did not plead guilty, his conviction should not be expunged. Pope rejected that argument, saying he has statutory authority to dismiss the conviction.
Smith, a former Harlem Globetrotter who lives in Crawfordsville, was elected to the District 50 seat in 2010 but resigned early in the 2011 legislative session following his conviction.
Democratic Party spokeswoman Candace Martin said Thursday the party was consulting with its legal team to try to determine whether the dismissal means Smith is now eligible to run. By late Thursday afternoon the party had not decided whether to proceed with the lawsuit.
A phone call to Smith was answered by a recording saying his voicemail was full. A message left for his attorney seeking comment was not immediately returned.
The Democratic Party has named Secretary of State Mark Martin as one of the defendants in its lawsuit. Martin refused a request by the party to strike Smith from the ballot, saying through spokesmen that doing so would deny Smith his right to due process.
On Thursday, the secretary of state’s office filed a response to the lawsuit asking that Martin be dismissed as a defendant because he has followed all applicable laws.
“It seems like with this case it changes daily, so it just reinforces our view that we are validated by the law that the courts should be the decider of this, not the secretary of state, not the Democratic Party,” Mark Martin spokesman Alex Reed said Thursday.
Martin’s filing also asks for speedy consideration of the case because ballots have to be printed soon. Absentee ballots are due to be delivered to county clerks by April 5.
Smith was charged after the Dermott School District issued duplicates of a $29,250 payment to a nonprofit organization he runs. Prosecutors said both payments were cashed.
Rep. Hudson Hallum, D-Marion, was elected to the District 50 seat after Smith resigned last year and has filed to run for re-election. No Republican has filed for the office.