Paid petition circulator with troubled past takes stand in Nebraska medical cannabis trial • Nebraska Examiner

Regardless of the outcome of the trial, which continues Friday, Nebraskans vote on the measures, which appear on the general election ballot.

The lawsuit alleges that the campaign did not raise enough money 86,499 signatures for access to the ballot because of the alleged notarial misconduct or circulatory fraud.

The first circulator takes the stand

Henning, a commercial and residential property inspector, told Lancaster County District Judge Susan Strong that he illegally signed 18 Seward County campaign signatures that he did not personally collect. She claimed she then forwarded them to voting sponsor Crista Eggers, who Henning alleged illegally notarized those invalid signatures.

“The only communication I had with her was through text messages and she was asking me about these petitions that I dropped the previous week,” Henning testified.

Attorneys from the Nebraska attorney general’s office, which is representing Secretary of State Bob Evnen in the lawsuit, went through at least 10 pages of petitions with Henning that she said she distributed but that Eggers signed about 11 days after Henning left them.

Trial begins in case against Nebraska’s medical cannabis ballot measures

On Tuesday, officials with the Nebraska Secretary of State’s office said the petition circulators must states that they have collected the signatures on the petition sheets in the physical presence of a notary, who must legalize that form in the presence of the circulator.

Henning said she joined the 2022 campaign to support her children, especially her son, who she said is profoundly disabled and has a variety of symptoms, including severe behaviors and epileptic seizures.

Before civil and criminal investigators contacted Henning earlier this month, she testified, she never knew about the notary requirement and said she also handed the petition sheets to at least two other notaries or he signed his oath incorrectly at the kitchen table. .

“I thought I was doing Crista a favor,” Henning said. “I would never have put myself in this position if I had known that.”

Henning said she was “ostracized” from the campaign and alleged that Eggers instructed campaign workers to delete related text messages.

Eggers, a potential witness in the case, started the campaign to help her youngest son, who also has severe seizures.

“I’m not being judged”

Attorney Alex Arkfeld, who represents the petition sponsors, referred to Henning’s previous interactions with Nebraska courts, including two felony convictions involving fraudulent insurance fraud over $5,000. Henning pleaded guilty to these charges in 2022. She is currently on probation and continues to pay thousands of dollars to defrauded companies.

Henning said the two fraud numbers came after her insurance company didn’t cover a feeding tube formula her son needed that cost $3,000 a month. She said her son also needed a wheelchair, and in addition to problems at home involving a septic tank, her family was in serious debt.

“I made very, very bad decisions that I’m embarrassed about, that I’m ashamed of,” Henning said. “I took responsibility. I’m on probation. I rebuilt my life.”

Arkfeld noted Henning’s previous interactions in Nebraska courts, where she filed forged or fraudulent documents and was sanctioned by Douglas County District Judge James Masteller in 2020 for photographing privileged attorney documents in a case against Children’s Hospital and later uploaded them to Facebook.

Masteller cited at least three other crimes involving different courts in 2013, 2014 and 2015. He wrote that Henning “has an extensive history of committing fraud and engaging in misconduct in court proceedings.”

“I’ve done a lot of horrible things and I know you want to keep hitting them,” Henning said. “I’m not being judged.”

Henning said she walks daily in fear of getting a parking or speeding ticket because of her probation conditions.

A campaign ‘full of integrity’

Arkfeld repeatedly asked if Henning was offered any benefit in exchange for her testimony, she said “no” and said she understood she could be charged at any time.

“You can destroy my credibility, you can destroy my character,” Henning continued. “I’m not proud of anything I’ve done in the past, but every day I wake up and put one foot forward and try to be as honest and good as I can and make my kids proud and me and myself and my husband “

Arkfeld played a 15-minute recording that Henning gave Evnen’s lawyers Wednesday night of a campaign phone call conducted by Eggers shortly after the Sept. 12 lawsuit was filed and the measures were certified on September 13.

In the recording, Eggers said the campaign needn’t worry about the lawsuit and could be grateful for the efforts of those on the appeal to get the petition measures on the ballot.

“Our campaign is full of integrity and from day one we have always fought for November 5th. That’s been our fight the whole time,” Eggers said in the recording. “… I want us to continue to be strong and absolutely committed to November 5th, the day Nebraskans have a chance to vote on this.”

When questioned, Henning confirmed that Eggers never instructed anyone to break the law or act unethically during the taped call.

Henning, questioned by Justin Hall with the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office, claimed that in another meeting, Eggers instructed campaign workers to break the law, but did not produce a recording of such a discussion.

“A Culmination of Errors”

Earlier Thursday, Brennan, a certified fraud investigator, testified that his investigation included circulators who had a signature rejection rate of more than 50 percent.

He confirmed that he did not discuss with the alleged wrongdoing notaries, which he emphasized as follows:

• Not having a notary signature (nine signatures).
• Without notary stamp (57 signatures).
• A legalization not carried out in the presence of the circulator (583 signatures).
• A notary authentication without circulator signature (110 signatures).
• Self-notarization (235 signatures).
• Other “notarial errors” (107 signatures).

Among those more general errors was cutting an inaccurate stamp or notary signature, which sometimes came incorrectly from the circulator. On some of the examples presented in court, campaign workers affixed a corrected stamp or signature from another notary public.

David Wilson Jr., the Office of the Secretary of State’s associate general counsel and director of licensing, including for notaries, testified Tuesday that weeding out bad notarizations is part of Wilson’s office’s guidelines, but not the law. Wilson noted that the notary is attached to the circulator’s oath, so a second new circulator’s signature may also be required.

Of the 1,110 signatures directly identified as villains, 706 were for the legalization campaign petition and 394 were for the regulation petition.

Attorney Daniel Gutman, who represents the ballot sponsors, said the AG’s Office then expands those hundreds of signatures to tens of thousands more — the office claims 49,187 “tainted” signatures on the legalization petition and 30,610 “tainted” signatures on the regulation petition .

Evnen previously certified nearly 90,000 signatures for both measures.

Brennan said his investigative process is about the totality of the evidence and the circumstances. He noted, for example, that notaries must be licensed by the state, but circulators are not.

“When I was looking at these, it would be a culmination of errors,” Brennan said of his process. “When you see things like more cases of missing a notary stamp, more cases of self-authentication, those types of things come together.”

Experience as a fraud investigator

Brennan, responding to questions from Deputy Attorney General Zach Viglianco, said he could “certainly” draw conclusions about the number of times someone was in trouble and that if someone engaged in some kind of intentional wrongful conduct , this calls into question other behaviors they engage in. .

“Is this something that happens in your experience as a fraud investigator?” Viglianco asked.

“Yes,” Brennan replied.

When Gutman asked if Brennan had looked into Henning’s background, Brennan said he found “only what was in the paper” online and didn’t research Henning’s other legal history.

The trial continues on Friday at 8:00 a.m., if necessary, it can be extended until Monday. The trial was initially scheduled for a maximum of three days. Election Day is Tuesday.

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