Fliergate update: to the grand jury

According to The Virginian-Pilot:

The Portsmouth Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office will be presenting evidence to a grand jury on April 4 on possible campaign disclosure violations related to a flyer Virginia Beach Mayor Will Sessoms’ campaign workers circulated last Nov. 4.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Earle Mobley will bring evidence against Dave Iwans of DIA , Inc. of Norfolk. Iwans was Sessoms’ campaign manager. The flyer, which featured Sessoms standing next to Barack Obama, failed to disclose who paid for them, as required by state financial disclosure laws.

Mobley was named special prosecutor in December. If the violation is a civil one it carries a fine of up to $2,500. A criminal violation carries up to one year in jail.

OK, so I’m no lawyer but I watch a lot of Law & Order 🙂 Seriously, though -I asked a lawyer friend and was told that grand juries don’t take up civil cases. So this must be a criminal case.  Wow!

Two things come to mind. First, as my lawyer friend pointed out, grand juries tend to do what the prosecutor wants them to do, so it is possible that no indictment will come from the process.

Secondly, I have been hearing for a while that there would be two people charged in this case, including the supposed “mastermind.” One has to wonder what deal has been struck. Will the other person be testifying before the grand jury? Or will that person be charged under the civil statute? I guess we will have to wait and see.

Regardless of the outcome, the fact that violation of campaign finance laws is being taken seriously is a good thing, in my opinion.

UPDATE: Note that the linked story has been updated online since it was first posted, including some interesting quotes from the parties. Check it out.