Judges denies injunctive relief, boots non-lawyer from elections case
A Fayette County judge denied a losing Republican candidate’s request for injunctive relief against the county and its election board over alleged improprieties in the May 16 primary.
Neither Jon Marietta nor his co-plaintiff, Delaware County resident Gregory Stenstrom, appeared for the scheduled 1 p.m. hearing on Tuesday. County solicitor Jack Purcell and Sheryl Heid, the elections board solicitor, did attend, however.
Last week, President Judge Steve P. Leskinen refused to hear arguments from Marietta and Stenstrom as they had not properly served court paperwork to the defendants, which includes Heid and the individual members of the election board – Mark Rowan, Robert Lesnick and John A. Kopas II. On Sept. 21, Leskinen explained that he would hear arguments at 1 p.m. Tuesday, provided the complaints were served by the sheriff’s office, as required.
On Tuesday, Heid said that service had not been made, and asked that Leskinen remove Stenstrom from the case for lack of standing.
Stenstrom, who is not an attorney, is listed as an “authorized representative” of Marietta, the county’s elected recorder of deeds, in court records. Instead of making service, on Monday the pair filed a “praecipe” to request the hearing be rescheduled, and then did not appear. A praecipe is a filing that asks the prothonotary to issue a summons to defendants in cases where there may not be time to file a complaint normally.
The praecipe filed by Marietta and Stenstrom continues to question Leskinen on whether proper service was made, and asks for an audio recording of last week’s hearing.
Leskinen disregarded that filing, and said the proper way to have the case rescheduled would have been to file a motion for a continuance. He agreed with Heid that Stenstrom should be removed from the case. He found that if the case proceeds, only Marietta could be listed as a plaintiff.
“(Stenstrom) waived his opportunity to explain by failing to appear today,” Leskinen said.
When reached by phone following the hearing, Stenstrom’s only comment was, “The praecipe speaks for itself.”
The order for injunctive relief proposed by Marietta and Stenstrom asked that county election equipment be “retained and secured from potential spoliation,” and that the county turn over ballots from every precinct. They were also seeking a stay on the certification of the primary election results, which was completed in August.
Marietta lost the Republican commissioner nomination by 121 votes. In court filings, he and Stenstrom have alleged multiple issues with the vote count that could be outcome determinant.
Leskinen noted Tuesday that the men failed to provide any evidence for these allegations. He was also frustrated by their seeming disregard for his instructions and standard court procedure.
“That fact that they do not understand the rules is their problem, not my problem,” Leskinen said.
Heid was pleased with Leskinen’s decisions to reject the order and remove Stenstrom from the case.
“I think he is attempting to bring an end to the chaos brought on by this complaint,” Heid said.