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Jan 15, 2009 7:58 pm US/Central
Franken: Senate Election Trial Should Be Speedy
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) ―
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Franken's attorney, Marc Elias, says it should proceed like a normal trial with each side presenting its case followed by a ruling from a three-judge panel.
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Democrat Al Franken proposed a trial schedule Thursday for the disputed Senate election that his lawyer said would proceed like a normal court trial, and predicted it would bring the contest to an end faster than proposed by Republican Norm Coleman.
"We believe Norm Coleman has the right to go to court. We don't believe he has a right to use the process of going to court to delay the people of Minnesota having a new senator as soon as possible," Franken attorney Marc Elias said.
Elias said under Franken's proposed schedule, it would likely be possible to finish the trial by the end of February.
On Wednesday, Coleman proposed conducting the trial in up to three phases that would proceed to each next step only if Coleman gets "a sufficient number of votes" to overcome Franken's 225-vote lead after the conclusion of the statewide recount on Jan. 6.
Coleman's attorneys said Thursday there's no reason the trial couldn't proceed quickly under their proposed format, and suggested that Franken was trying to push the three-judge panel appointed to hear the case into a quick resolution without weighing evidence of possible irregularities in the election.
"All the Franken campaign wants the court to do is take the same numbers reported out on Jan. 6 and certify them," Coleman attorney Fritz Knaak said.
Knaak also revealed that the two campaigns had been summoned to meet Friday morning with the members of the three-judge panel, to discuss their timetable proposals and other issues concerning the trial. He said he didn't expect an immediate decision from the judges.
A state courts spokesman said the meeting will be conducted in private. There are no current plans for the judges to hold a public hearing to announce decisions or detail the closed-door discussions.
First up under Coleman's proposal would be disputed absentee ballots, then ballots missing from a Minneapolis precinct, then other issues including ballots with questionable voter intent and a probe into Coleman's argument that some voters had more than one ballot counted.
With its own proposed timetable, Franken suggested the matter proceed like a standard trial. Coleman, as the plaintiff, would present his case, followed by Franken, followed by a ruling from the three-judge panel.
Franken's court filing suggested the Coleman model would "take too long" and be "burdensome and inefficient." Multiple stages to the trial would force local election officials, some from farflung parts of the state, to travel to St. Paul numerous times to testify instead of getting it all done in one trip, Franken's lawyer said.
"The Court should require Coleman to ask all his questions of a witness the first time he calls her to the stand," Franken's court filing suggested.
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Norm Coleman was born in New York City in 1949. Al Franken was born in New York City in 1951.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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