21-04-2025
Charge dropped against Humansville city employee accused of rigging election
HUMANSVILLE, Mo. – Just weeks before the case was set to go to trial, the felony election offense charge filed against Humansville Utility Clerk Sophia Piper have been dropped.
Humansville clerk accused of preventing candidates from running in April election
According to an official complaint obtained by Ozarks First Investigates from the Secretary of State, Piper was accused of blocking certain candidates from submitting paperwork to run in the April 2024 election.
According to a statement from Polk County Prosecutor Keaton Ashlock the person who filed that official complaint, along with other witnesses, failed to cooperate in the case which led to its dismissal:
'The Polk County Prosecutor has dismissed case 24WE-CR01059-01 which was initiatedthrough grand jury indictment on the charge of felony Election Interference under RSMo115.631 on July 10, 2024.
This decision was made after two of the State's main witnesses failed to appear onsubpoenas for depositions leading up to the scheduled trial date of April 30, 2025. This includedthe sole witness named in the probable cause statement submitted by the Secretary of State'sOffice, whose account was the basis for the charge.
The Sixth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States guarantees the right of acriminal defendant to confront and cross-examine witnesses at a trial. Furthermore, the rules ofthe Missouri Supreme Court Rule of Criminal Procedure 25 gives defendants the ability todepose witnesses prior to trial.
Without the cooperation of witnesses at depositions, and with no assurance that theProsecution would be able to provide necessary testimony at a forthcoming trial, the Prosecutor's Office deemed a dismissal necessary.'
Ozarks First Investigates asked Piper about the allegations at a city council meeting and she denied any wrongdoing.
Her case was moved to Webster County where a jury trial was scheduled for April 30, 2025, but it's now cancelled.
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