By Janice Gregorson
Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN
Criminal charges have been dropped against a Haverhill Township supervisor accused of lying about his address to run for election.
District Judge Mary Leahy dismissed the criminal complaint against Karl Edmund Flores for lack of probable cause that he committed a crime.
Flores’ attorney asked for the charges to be dismissed, and Leahy took the issue under advisemen after a hearing in mid-February. Meanwhile, prosecutor Julie Germann dismissed two of the three perjury counts, saying they were outside the statute of limitations. Leahy dismissed the third count with an order dated March 17 and filed March 25.
ADVERTISEMENT
That count alleged that Flores made a false statement when he filed a sworn affidavit of candidacy in 2007 in which he said he lived in the town of Haverhill. The two counts previously dismissed by Germann related to affidavits of candidacy from 2001 and 2004.
During the February hearing, Flores testified that he bought a house in Rochester around 2000 but considered the Flores family home in Haverhill Township as his residence.
"On the facts of his case, the court cannot find that a reasonable and prudent person would honestly believe that Flores is guilty of a crime," Leahy wrote. She said the dispute over Flores’ residency for candidacy purposes might be more appropriate in civil court.
Haverhill Township borders northwest Rochester.
