AUSTIN, Texas — A Texas woman sentenced to five years in prison for illegal voting after filling out a provisional ballot while on parole in 2016 won a key ruling Wednesday in her effort to have the conviction overturned. Crystal Mason was sentenced to five years in prison for illegal voting after filling out a provisional ballot while on parole in 2016
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Wednesday ordered a lower court to review whether there was sufficient evidence to convict her The court didn't overturn Mason's 2018 conviction, but kept alive her claim she didn’t know she was committing a crime The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ordered a lower court to review whether there was sufficient evidence to . The court's majority determined that Texas election law requires that individuals know they are ineligible to vote to be convicted of illegal voting.
The new ruling did not overturn Mason's 2018 conviction, but keeps alive her contention that she didn't know she was committing a crime when she filled out the ballot in Tarrant County for the presidential election. She was on supervised released from a federal tax fraud conviction and was barred from voting under Texas law. Her ballot wasn't counted and she was arrested several months later.
Law Law Latest News, Law Law Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: dcexaminer - 🏆 6. / 94 Read more »