Posted on 05/05/2005 4:01:23 AM PDT by chambley1
Before Steven H. Chapman's name will appear on local Republican primary ballots in June, his name was printed on two indictments handed up by the Prince William grand jury Monday.
Chapman's sealed indictments were released after he went to the Prince William courthouse Wednesday to receive the two charges against him: felony election fraud and misdemeanor illegal voting. Chapman's name was not released with the rest of the indicted defendants Tuesday afternoon.
Chapman, 27, is running in the primary for the 50th House of Delegates district. The district includes Manassas and Manassas Park and a small area northwest of the cities. He is challenging Delegate Harry J. Parrish, who is running for his 13th term. The winner will face Democratic candidate Donald E. Shuemaker of Manassas Park.
The indictments charge Chapman with making a false statement on his voter registration form in October 2004 and with voting while knowing he was not qualified to vote in November 2004. No additional details are given.
Chapman's attorney, Gilbert K. Davis, said he will ask prosecutors to file documents explaining exactly what crimes Chapman allegedly committed at a hearing in Prince William Circuit Court on Thursday.
The allegations are that "he claimed he was a resident of an area he was not," Commonwealth's Attorney Paul B. Ebert said in a phone interview Wednesday evening.
At a press conference outside the courthouse Wednesday afternoon, Chapman's campaign announced the indictments and disputed the charges. Campaign spokesman Thomas Kopko provided reporters with a document they argue verifies Chapman was a Manassas Park resident in September 2004. Davis said that Chapman rented a room in late September 2004 in a Manassas Park house owned by Michael Wilbourn, the son of former county supervisor Edgar S. Wilbourn III, R-Gainesville.
Chapman's understanding was that he could eventually buy Wilbourn's house, Davis said.
"He stayed there not every night, but quite a few nights," Davis said.
While Chapman was raising financing to purchase Wilbourn's house, he found out his landlord wasn't going to sell. So he purchased another home in Manassas, a condo at 8734 Richmond Ave. The condominium in the Wedgwood condominium complex is currently undergoing renovations that Chapman is completing himself, Kopko said.
Some furniture could be seen arranged in the condo Wednesday afternoon, and there was a large amount of trash behind the condo. Several neighbors said they had seen someone fitting Chapman's description in the condo, but had not formally introduced themselves to him. They also did not know if he was living there full-time while the renovations were going on.
"He took all the steps he needed to take; he changed his address, he registered his car, he changed his voter registration," Davis said. "What more could he have done?"
Davis went on to tell an anecdote about an anonymous state senator who rented an apartment in Fairfax that he never entered so he could run for the Fairfax seat. The senator was living in Tappahanock, Davis said. Davis claimed such cases are never prosecuted in Virginia.
But Ebert said he was not aware of prosecutors turning a blind eye to politicians who rented residency.
"The allegations are [Chapman] was not a bona fide resident," Ebert said.
Ebert said he knew of only one other case in Prince William County: Debra Wilson, who was prosecuted and convicted of election fraud. Wilson was running in the Republican primary for the 51st house seat in 1997. Ebert said Wednesday that he will recuse himself from prosecuting Chapman, as he did in the Wilson case. The Circuit Court will appoint a special prosecutor, Ebert said.
In Wilson's case, the Democratic Party of Virginia filed a formal complaint regarding her residency that sparked the investigation.
Chapman's supporters claim that his opponent in the GOP primary, Parrish, is behind a smear campaign.
"It's no surprise Harry Parrish hired a private investigator who began harassing Steve's business, family and friends," Kopko said. "An anonymous person fed [untrue allegations] to Paul Ebert … a longtime friend of Harry Parrish."
Both Ebert and Parrish deny such collusion. Ebert, a Democrat who has been the county's elected prosecutor since 1968, called his relationship with Parrish "friendly" but no more.
Parrish said he had worked with Ebert because they had both been in office for many years. He said they were "friends … but not pals."
"I respect him and I believe he's one of the best commonwealth's attorneys in the Commonwealth. But we're not buddies. We don't fish together. I've never been to his house," Parrish said Wednesday afternoon at his MIFCO office.
Chuckling, he recalled a long-ago incident when Ebert's now adult son got stuck climbing a tree. Parrish, a longtime Manassas volunteer fireman, drove the fire truck to rescue the boy. That, Parrish claimed, was the closest he's ever come to entering Ebert's home.
But it is precisely those long-term ties that Chapman's campaign blames for the accusations.
"These are the dirty tactics of the good ol' boy network," Supervisor Corey A. Stewart, R-Occoquan, said at Chapman's press conference. Chapman was Stewart's campaign manager in 2003. "I wonder why a man in the twilight of his career would seek to destroy a young man for one more term."
If convicted of felony voter fraud, Chapman could face up to 10 years in prison. The misdemeanor charge, illegal voting, carries a maximum sentence of 12 months in jail. Felons can not vote or run for elected office.
Wilson received a suspended 30-day jail sentence and a year of probation from now-retired Circuit Court Judge Frank A. Hoss Jr.
Parrish also denied hiring a private investigator Wednesday.
"Neither I nor my campaign has hired any private investigator. As far as individually, I've never hired a private investigator," Parrish said. "My campaign hasn't to my knowledge. I okay all expenses … I think I would know had one been hired."
Kopko said Dr. Samia Harris of the Prince William Academy alerted the Chapman campaign to a private investigator. Harris and Chapman served together on a board attempting to create a linguistic charter school in the county in 2003. Harris called the campaign in early March to ask why a private investigator had contacted her about Chapman. Harris told them the detective said Harry Parrish had hired him, Kopko said.
"He said he'd been hired by Mr. Parrish because Mr. Parrish would like to defend his position. He was hired to ensure everything indicated in [Chapman's] brochure was correct," Harris said in a phone interview Wednesday evening. Chapman remains on the Academy's board, Harris said. "I'm trying to stay very neutral and away from the political arena. … I wish both gentlemen the best of luck."
Harris said she never spoke with investigator David C. Watson of Ebert's office. Watson was a witness before the grand jury Monday, according to Chapman's indictments. Ebert said the investigation of the allegations was done by a number of people and there were a number of witnesses. He declined to specify further.
A local conservative activist who spoke at Chapman's press conference questioned why the charges were made public five weeks before the primary, when the alleged offenses took place last fall. Asked about the timing of the indictments, Ebert said the allegations were investigated and presented to the grand jury as quickly as possible.
Davis reminded the crowd of reporters and supporters Wednesday that a grand jury indictment is not proof of guilt. A grand jury indictment means the prosecution has sufficient evidence to take a case to trial.
"This is a sad day for me and my family. … I trust our great legal system to … find I am fully and completely innocent," Chapman said. "And I say this to my opponent: You thought I was working hard before? You ain't seen nothing yet."
Chapman will be arraigned in Prince William Circuit Court on the charges this morning. Davis said he will be presenting several motions to the judge. One will ask for the particulars of the charges and another will request an immediate trial, Davis said.
"The damage is done if he can't clear his name before the election," Davis said.
Ebert said the case will be tried when the court can schedule it. Scheduling is up to the special prosecutor, Ebert said.
If this article doesn't pertain to you, don't Freepmail me you want off a ping list. Just move along.
The indictments charge Chapman with making a false statement on his voter registration form in October 2004 and with voting while knowing he was not qualified to vote in November 2004. No additional details are given.
If he was a Democrat, he wouldn't even be charged.
...Campaign spokesman Thomas Kopko provided reporters with a document they argue verifies Chapman was a Manassas Park resident in September 2004. Davis said that Chapman rented a room in late September 2004 in a Manassas Park house owned by Michael Wilbourn, the son of former county supervisor Edgar S. Wilbourn III, R-Gainesville...I assume chambley1 knows more.
I believe you have your candidate's identities switched.
An article I read about this yesterday states that Chapman is running in the primary against Parrish because Parrish supported last year's tax increase.
That’ll teach him to register as a Republican!
Ya gotta love nice, dirty, underhanded primaries, conducted in such a way as to seriously weaken the "winner" come general election time.
There's about a half a dozen RINO's like Parrish in the General Assembly who have primary challengers this year specifically because they voted for the tax increase.
In the 33rd district, the RINO incumbent (May), who in the past has not only supported higher taxes but also voted against bills for parental notification before a minor child has an abortion, has also resorted to using dirty tricks to try to have his opponent's name removed from the ballot.
http://www.timescommunity.com/site/tab1.cfm?newsid=14464163&BRD=2553&PAG=461&dept_id=506040&rfi=6
How someone with that type of record can consider himself to be a Republican is beyond me.
Here in the 100th district they have yet to come up with a candidate to oppose the Dem freshman incumbent.
Well, I think the deadline has passed for nominees to file with a Party. How about finding someone to file as an Independent, and then the committee can endorse that candidate? Or does no one want to take on the job?
(OOPS -hit post too quickly)
The winner of the 2003 GOP primary is not going to try again this year...my understanding is the tax increase is still too fresh in folks' mind and during the 2003 campaign he supported increased taxes and that is the main reason he lost.
The geographical makeup of the district poses a problem because it straddles the Bay - all of the Eastern Shore and parts of the Norfolk/Hampton Roads area.
Heck, maybe the Libertarians can put somebody up, just so the Dems have to spend some money on that race...
They are really going after the challengers to the RINO incumbents.
Has there been any investigation of the DEM/RINO Coalition in VA yet?
That sounds like a question for JamesParmelee.
I agree that it rankles.
Interestingly enough, the Dem that won was actually much stronger in his pro 2ndA and pro-life stance than the Rep that won the primary.
Lynwood Lewis happens to be our attorney and I went rounds with him last year over the tax increase.......I thought he was going to faint the day I told him I was a lifelong Repubican...LOL!
The politics here on the Shore are as incestuous as they are in Delaware - Lyn happens to be the law partner of the county GOP Chairman and is a former Dem county chair himself :)
I don't see us taking back that seat this year, at least not at this juncture. And that gives me pause regarding the Governor's race. The staunch GOP (myself included) are firmly behind Kilgore - however there are many fence sitters who may very well go with Kaine only because Warner named the 26 year former Del. Bob Bloxom the first Sec. of Agriculture.
You are correct. Chapman is challenging the incumbent Parrish in this race because Parrish supported Governor Doofus's tax increase last year. The conservative base are supporting Chapman who is fervently anti-tax, pro-life and helped defeat a gambling initiative in the City of Manassas last year. That said, Parrish has generally been pretty conservative, even on tax issues over the years, but he squished out last year. It sounds as if his campaign staff are the ones who turned the evidence over to the Commonwealth's Attorney (who happens to be a Dem, but is the only one to get the death penalty for the D.C. area sniper and botched the Loreena Bobbitt case a decade or so ago.)
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