A former Athens County Democratic Party Chairwoman, who was charged with two counts of falsification in January, filed an appeal brief with Athens County Court of Common Pleas last week.
Susan Gwinn, 56, filed an appeal brief with the Fourth District Court of Appeals Sept. 28. She asked the court to dismiss both counts of falsification of her campaign documents for her failed run for Athens County Prosecutor in 2008.
Gwinn was found guilty of two counts of falsification on Jan. 11. Falsification is a first-degree misdemeanor, according to the Ohio Revised Code. Gwinn was sentenced to pay a $1,000 fine.
The appeal brief states two reasons why the charges should be dismissed.
Gwinn was charged with failure to file statements by the Ohio Elections Commission. Gwinn allegedly did not list Greg Kenley and Daniel Gwinn as campaign donors, according to court documents.
Gwinn claims they personally loaned her the money and she guaranteed they would be paid back, so the money did not need to go through her campaign committee. Gwinn was found guilty of these charges but later filed an appeal with the 10th District Court of Appeals.
While this appeal was pending, Gwinn's trial for two counts of falsification began in Athens County Court of Common Pleas. These charges were also filed because Gwinn did not list Kenley and Daniel Gwinn as campaign donors. Special Prosecutor David Yost was handling both cases.
Gwinn said the charges should be dismissed because a prosecutor should not have had two cases in two different courts regarding the same charges against the same person at the same time, according to court documents. Gwinn had two cases of falsification in Ohio Elections.
Commission and Athens County Court of Common Pleas at the same time and Yost was handling both cases.
The second reason Gwinn asked for the charges to be dismissed is a lack of evidence. Gwinn stated she should not be found guilty for listing herself as the contributor of a loan made personally to her, according to documents. She also said the court cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Gwinn intended to violate campaign laws or that she knowingly falsified the documents, according to court documents.
She also said the court cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Kenley and Daniel Gwinn did not know that a campaign contribution was being made, according to court documents.
Gwinn is asking the court to reverse the trial and dismiss both falsification charges, according to court documents.
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Marika Lee
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