Bosworth To Appeal Conviction For Election Law Violations
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — Former South Dakota U.S. Senate candidate Annette Bosworth plans to appeal to the state Supreme court over her conviction for election law violations, her attorney said Thursday.
Bob Van Norman, an attorney for the 43-year-old Sioux Falls physician, said she will appeal to the high court after her expected sentencing in July. A jury found Bosworth guilty Wednesday of six counts each of perjury and filing false documents. The charges stemmed from mishandling her candidate petitions for the 2014 Republican U.S. Senate primary.
Bosworth faces a maximum punishment of 24 years in prison and $48,000 in fines. Attorney General Marty Jackley has said prosecutors will review mitigating and aggravating circumstances before making a sentencing recommendation.
Van Norman said the defense will push for a sentence that would allow the conviction to disappear if Bosworth successfully completes probation. He said Bosworth is guaranteed an appeal to the Supreme Court after sentencing.
Bosworth admitted that she didn’t personally gather some signatures on her nominating documents, despite attesting on the petitions that she had witnessed people signing them. Under state law, the person circulating petitions must witness the signings from registered voters.
Bosworth’s defense team argued during the trial that she was a rookie candidate who knows more about medicine than politics and said that her actions were a mistake.
“She is devastated,” Van Norman said on Thursday.
The convictions could also jeopardize Bosworth’s medical license.
“I am going to miss being a doctor,” Bosworth told The Associated Press in a text message. “I really love being a doctor.”
Margaret Hansen, executive director of the South Dakota Board of Medical and Osteopathic Examiners, declined in a recent email to speak specifically about Bosworth’s case.
But she said generally a felony conviction could be grounds for revocation of a license, though it “is not an automatic disqualifier.”
