Judge Lets Stand Tate Indictment

A Loudoun County Circuit Court judge rejected a defense motion Friday to dismiss the indictment of Mark D. Tate, a state Senate candidate charged in May with election fraud and perjury.

Judge Burke F. McCahill also upheld the defense's right to subpoena internal communications among supporters of Jill Holtzman Vogel, who beat Tate in the June Republican primary.

Tate, a restaurateur and former vice mayor of Middleburg, was indicted May 21 on two counts of election fraud and nine counts of perjury over charges that he filed false financial reports during his campaign and during a previous bid for the same office.

In his motion to dismiss the indictment, Tate's attorney, Edward B. MacMahon Jr., argued that the prosecution's case was unconstitutional because the indictment did not give enough particulars to stand up in court.

"You cannot look at this indictment and say what he's been charged with," MacMahon said, adding that it listed items in broad terms, such as "election fraud," without providing details. "We're going to have to go back and pull hundreds and hundreds of pages to try to figure out what the commonwealth is talking about."

Special prosecutor Matthew J. Britton said that such short-form indictments had been endorsed by Virginia and that detailed case listings were not necessary.

McCahill upheld the indictment but ordered Britton to file a bill of particulars. The judge also denied Britton's request to quash the subpoenas. But he ordered MacMahon to file an amended request showing why the information is material to the case.

MacMahon has subpoenaed any records showing that three of Holtzman Vogel's supporters knew a criminal investigation of Tate was underway.

One of those supporters, campaign volunteer Laurie Letourneau, first alerted the Virginia State Board of Elections and the Loudoun commonwealth's attorney to "discrepancies" in Tate's campaign finance disclosure reports, according to court records. The other two supporters are members of a political action committee that backed Holtzman Vogel.

MacMahon has said that any discrepancies in Tate's campaign filings were mistakes that did not amount to a crime.

Britton called the subpoenas "a fishing expedition," adding that knowledge of the indictment by Holtzman Vogel supporters would not have swayed the grand jury.

MacMahon said Tate was entitled to any evidence that might help him. McCahill concurred, saying, "The defendant has the right to call for evidence in his favor."

Britton also asked for MacMahon to be dismissed from the case because the state wanted to call him as a witness; McCahill referred that motion back to another Loudoun Circuit Court judge, who previously had denied it. Prosecutors have said they hope to call MacMahon to the stand because he was one of Tate's campaign donors and because his contributions were not recorded properly.

Tate, who is free on bond, faces a fine or prison term if convicted. The trial is scheduled for the last week of November.

On Nov. 6, Holtzman Vogel will face Democrat Karen Schultz and independent Donald Marro in the election to replace retiring state Sen. H. Russell Potts Jr. (R-Winchester). The Senate district covers all of Loudoun County west of Route 15, the city of Winchester, most of Fauquier County and all of Clarke and Frederick counties.