Mason gained national attention after being convicted of voting while on supervised release on a felony tax fraud charge. She didn't know she was eligible to vote, she said.
By Karen Brooks Harper, The Texas Tribune, March 28, 2024
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A Texas appeals court on Thursday overturned the illegal voting conviction of Crystal Mason, who had been sentenced to five years in prison for casting a provisional ballot in the 2016 election while free on federal tax evasion charges.
The decision by the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in Tarrant County means she has been officially acquitted of the felony voting charge. In its decision, the court said there was no evidence that Mason knew she was ineligible to vote when she voted. These are the conditions Mason must meet to be found guilty for her illegal voting.
Mason has maintained throughout the seven-year case that he did not know he was ineligible and would not have risked his freedom if he had been. Her long legal battle, which has drawn international attention, has been devastating, she said in a statement Thursday.
“I’m so happy to see my faith rewarded today,” Mason said. “I participated in the fight for voting rights, and I will continue to work to ensure that no one else has to face what I have endured for over six years: a political ploy in which minority voting rights are under attack.”
The incident thrust Mason, who is black, into a political fray amid a Republican-led crackdown on voter fraud, fueled in part by baseless claims of widespread illegal voting.
“I have cried and prayed every night for over six years so that I could remain a free black woman,” Mason said. “We thank everyone for their dedication and support to get us through this time and look forward to celebrating this moment with family and friends.”
The 2nd Circuit initially upheld her conviction, but was directed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals two years ago to “evaluate the sufficiency” of the evidence against Mason. [Mason] “She actually knew it was a crime for her to vote while on supervised release.”
“We feel relieved for Mr. Mason, who has waited far too long with the uncertainty of whether he will be imprisoned for five years and separated from his family simply for doing his civic duty,” said Senior Attorney Thomas Buser-Clancy. For the ACLU of Texas. “The damage caused by criminal prosecution can never be fully undone. But this decision is a vindication of Mr. Mason and a victory for our democracy. Democracy can only thrive when people can participate in civic processes without fear.”
Mason's case dates back to 2016. After learning that she was not listed on the voter rolls, she followed the advice of a poll worker and submitted a provisional ballot in the presidential election. Her ballot was rejected because her federal tax fraud conviction made her ineligible to participate in the election while she was on supervised release. She was arrested a few months later.
Mason's indictment hinges on an affidavit she signed prior to the provisional vote requiring individuals to swear that they have “completed all punishment, including terms of incarceration, parole, supervision, or probation for felonies, or have received a pardon.” ”
A trial court judge found her guilty of illegal voting, then a second-degree state felony, after testimony from a poll worker who watched Mason read each line of the affidavit and move her fingers. She said Mason did not read the entire affidavit. At her trial, the supervisor of the probation office overseeing her release testified that no one in that office informed her that she was still ineligible to vote.
The Court of Criminal Appeals ruled in a 2022 ruling that Texas election law requires an individual to know he or she was ineligible to vote in order to be found guilty of voting illegally. The law was clarified by lawmakers in 2021, stating that a Texan cannot be convicted of illegal voting “solely because the person signed a provisional ballot” but instead requires other evidence to prove that the person intentionally attempted to vote. Required provisions were added to the Election Act. Illegal voting.
The appeals court wrote in its 2022 decision that the new law showed that lawmakers, with good intentions, never intended to convict voters.
“Construing the statute to mean that a person may be guilty without knowing that he or she is ineligible to vote ignores the words the legislature intended,” the court wrote. “This turns the knowledge requirement into a kind of negligent scheme that could make you guilty because you failed to take reasonable care to ensure you were eligible to vote.”
A Tarrant County court ruling Thursday acknowledged that.
“We concluded that the amount of evidence presented in this case was insufficient to support the conclusion that Mason actually realized that he had voted knowing that he was not eligible to vote. It is therefore insufficient to support a conviction for illegal voting.” reading.
Tarrant County prosecutors argued that they were not simply criminalizing individuals who voted by mistake, arguing that Mason's case was about intent and that the fact that she signed the affidavit was an admission of her ineligibility.
“Ultimately, the state's key evidence is that Mason read the contents of the affidavit,” the Tarrant County ruling states. “But even if she did read it, even in the context of the rest of the evidence in this case, that is not enough to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that she actually knew that she would be on supervised release after completing all of her federal sentence. “Her incarceration made her ineligible to vote when she cast her provisional ballot.”
This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune.
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