The scene in the courtroom Friday was, at times, surreal.
At one point, State Rep. Robin Wright-Jones, who is suing State Rep. Connie Johnson for misrepresenting that she does live in the 5th Senatorial District, which they are both seeking to represent in the August 5th primary, took the stand to “play the part” (meaning she was reading the testimony of another witness taken during a previous deposition) of the man who rented the home Johnson claims is her residence.
Johnson listened as Wright-Jones read in the first-person allegations that she slashed the car tires of one of her tenants, then stole a pair of boots, allegedly saying “I am going to have to get gangsta on this girl. She doesn’t know who I am.”
Johnson denies the allegations of William Keys, a firefighter who claims that he rented Johnson’s northside house with an agreement to purchase it with his girlfriend, who also lived there. Johnson has said that the arrangement was actually more of a roommate agreement, with her being able to come and go when not in Jefferson City fulfilling her duties or at another home she owned in Central West End taking care of her ailing mother.
In his deposition, read in court by Wright-Jones, Keys denied that description of the arrangement. “Where would she sleep? There were only two mattresses.” he said.
Further damaging is the fact that the house has been condemned by the city since December or January. According to Susan Block, attorney for Robin Wright-Jones, Representative Johnson just applied for an occupancy permit this month.
Johnson has called Wright-Jones lawsuit a desperate political move. She also points out that Wright-Jones entire case almost completely mirrors the evidence anonymously sent to election officials and several media outlets weeks before she filed her suit.
Wright-Jones denied on the stand that she had any knowledge of that anonymous packet.
More may be at stake for Connie Johnson than just being allowed to stay on the ballot or not. Wright-Jones is also seeking attorney fees and costs, which already total to more than $17,000. The U.S. Attorney’s office also requested a copy of the St. Louis Board of Elections findings and a representative from the Missouri Attorney General’s office was in court Friday monitoring the case.
Friday’s proceedings, which started at 9:30 AM, lasted until 7:30 PM.
Judge Douglas Long of Pulaksi County, the third judge in the case following the recusal of two others because of possible conflicts of interest, has requested additional documents from Wright-Jones’ attorney by midweek. A verdict may be announced by Thursday or Friday.
May 12th, 2008 at 8:46 am
Representative Johnson is not the only person lying about her residency in the 27th ward. The Election board is also engaged in an active investigation of another so called political family in the 27th. Hmmmmm…is there a press coverup or disinterest in a pattern of vote corruption?
May 12th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Stop it STL Voice. Chris Carter is solidly a resident of the 27th. Anything else is the ridiculous speculation coming from a desperate Royston camp.
May 12th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
PubDef: Your headline should be revised to read “Decision Expected this Week in Connie Johnson Case.” No verdict is forthcoming–verdicts are rendered by juries, and this is a judge-tried case. Judges render decisions and enter orders.
May 12th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Why is it when someone is in the wrong, they are quick to blame someone else for their actions. Wrong is wrong.
May 12th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
I don’t know of many candidates or men period that use the name of a women as their alter ego. So since no names were mentioned it seems strange that somebody would come forward and just give up a name of someone. Now isn’t that strange. Gary Bell must be using the name Alice and trying to deflect attention from hisself. Shame on you Gary Bell.
Speaking of strange, has anyone noticed that the 27th ward has a split personality. The ward organization goes with one candidate, like Yaphett and Chris goes with another like Jeff Smith. The ward organization goes with one candidate, like Connie Johnson and the Chris goes with another like Robin Jones (but he took the maximum donation from Rodney Hubbard). Hmmmmmmm!!!!.
Hey Alice, what else do you know? And who you going to tell on next? Oh, by the way Alice, don’t buy any DVD’s or CD’s from the I70 Shell station ’cause you might get knocked the F**K out. Maybe, though, it will knock some sense into ya. BOOYA!!!
May 13th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Blog until your fingers hurt, its to bad the constituents who’s doors have been knocked dont read it, stlvoice. The El-Amins are with Curtis, Curtis stays in Jennings….
Why does it matter who Chris endorses anyway? I mean is he REALLY that important? He seems insignificant in a senatorial race if you ask me.
May 14th, 2008 at 8:22 am
If Curtis lives in Jennings then we should line up the whole lot (Chris and Curtis) and throw them in the Mississippi or better still, make them go live with Connie on Maple. That would leave us with Mr. Bell. He seems to be the only legal resident of the district. He has property in the district and he has stayed out of the muck. I just think people are tired of lying politicians. These people should prove that they have acted legally and honestly.
May 14th, 2008 at 9:12 am
“Hey Alice, what else do you know? And who you going to tell on next? Oh, by the way Alice, don’t buy any DVD’s or CD’s from the I70 Shell station ’cause you might get knocked the F**K out. Maybe, though, it will knock some sense into ya. BOOYA!!!”
Is this some sort of threat??
May 14th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Oh the drama. I just love to see silly men in politics go at it in a blog. Please folks if you have proof then take it to the elcetion board like other people have done….and are doing.
May 14th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
I do think the Election Board is culpable in this whole issue of residency. They reluctantly did the investigation on Connie Johnson and are slow to followup on complaints as a whole. Some things should be obvious. In East St. Louis there were 30 adults registered to vote out of one home, everybody had the registration sheets and nobody made an issue out of it until Carl Officer unexpectedly lost, then the Officer people claimed vote fraud. The St. Louis Election board is just as incompetent as it always has been. The Democratic Director has a personal relationship with some of the people that need to be investigate and the board is even more incompetent than she is. They just turn their heads, one is a drunk old man, the others well let’s just say where the hell did Boy Blunt find these people. I bet you this, all of these cases of people not living where they will be voting from will be an issue for the November primaries for the Republican party. Maybe the local Election Board is playing politics…but that would be accussing them of being able to have an independent thought. SADDDD!!!!
Greg Carter, where can I buy a DVD without getting KNOCKED the F**K out.
May 15th, 2008 at 8:46 am
The judge ruled and threw Connie off the ballot. The story’s in the Post-Dispatch.