June 21 (UPI) — A Nevada judge on Friday dismissed charges against six alleged fake electors related to a scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 election for Donald Trump.
Clark County Judge Mary Kay Holthus ruled her county was not the appropriate jurisdiction for the case, calling off a trial that would have began in January.
Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford originally brought the case to Clark County, but Holthus sided with defense attorneys who argued the charges should have been filed in Carson City or Douglas County, where the alleged crimes took place.
The decision makes the Nevada case the first of five 2020 fake elector cases to be dismissed.
“We disagree with the judge’s decision and will be appealing immediately,” John Sadler, a spokesperson for Ford’s office said in a statement.
Defense attorneys already are calling the case shut since a three-year statute of limitations on filing charges expired in December, barring the AG’s office from filing charges in another county.
The defendants included Nevada Republican Party Chairman Michael McDonald, Clark County Republican Party Chairman Jesse Law, Nevada Republican Party National Committeeman Jim DeGraffenreid, Nevada Republican Party Vice Chairman Jim Hindle III, and GOP operatives Shawn Meehan and Eileen Rice.
They were indicted last December on felony charges of offering a false instrument for filing and offering a forged instrument, which carry up to five years in prison.
The Nevada Supreme Court certified the 2020 election results, declaring Joe Biden the victor by some 33,000 ballots.
Trump and dozens of his supporters still face criminal charges in Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia and Arizona related to the fake electors scheme.
Trump and 18 other defendants last August pleaded not guilty to all charges accusing them of attempting to overturn the presidential election in Georgia.
Former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani and several Trump allies pleaded not guilty in May to charges that they attempted to interfere in the Arizona election.