Florida ex-convict accused of voter fraud has case dismissed

On Aug. 18, Robert Lee Wood was charged with 19 others who the Florida Department of Law Enforcement accused of illegally voting in the 2020 election despite convictions of murder or sexual assault. It was the first action taken by the Florida Office of Election Crimes and Security established by DeSantis earlier this year.

But Judge Milton Hirsch of the 11th Judicial Circuit dismissed the new charges against Wood on ground that the statewide prosecutor did not have jurisdiction over one case in Miami, only over crimes alleged to have occurred in at least two judicial districts, reports ABC News.

Wood was convicted of murder in the second degree in 1991, according to CNN citing his attorney. The lawyer explained that the former inmate registered to vote in the 2020 election after a 2018 law restored voting rights to many convicted felons but not murderers or sex offenders, which created confusion.

Prosecutors tried to argue that Wood’s crime took place in two countries: in Miami Dade, where he registered to vote and voted, and in Leon County, home of the state capital where the paperwork was processed.

Hirsch sided with the defense, who argued that the office did not have the proper jurisdiction to charge Wood.

“‘His arms spread wider than a dragon’s wings,’ says Shakespeare’s Duke of Gloucester about Henry V. How much wider even than that does OSP seek to extend its reach? In the case at bar, the answer is simple: wider than the enabling statute contemplates and therefore too wide,” Hirsh wrote.

The decision comes days after the Tamp Bay Times shared police body camera footage of some arrests in DeSantis’ illegal voting crackdown where the arrested look visibly confused or angry about the voter fraud charges.

The defense stated it has shared the decision with those representing the other 19 alleged fraudsters. The state office has said it will appeal the Wood ruling.