Updated 12/21/2012 09:18 PM
Jury reaches partial verdict in ballot fraud trial
Jurors reach a partial verdict in the Troy voter fraud retrial. Ed McDonough was found not guilty on all forgery counts. YNN's Lori Chung has the latest.
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TROY, N.Y. -- After days of deliberations, Rensselaer County Democratic Board of Elections Commissioner Ed McDonough was cleared in a plot to forge votes for the 2009 Working Party primary.
Jurors found McDonough not guilty on 61 of the 62 forgery related charges he was facing. The jury failed to agree on one count, which the judge dismissed with prejudice, meaning he cannot be retried.
McDonough was accused of using his role to help Democrats file phony absentee ballots. His attorney says the scheme had nothing to do with his client.
"How that case got from those responsible to my client baffles the mind. The reason was is he was going to be the fall guy," said defense attorney Brian Premo.
This was McDonough's second trial. The first ended with a hung jury.