Tobin (convicted NH GOP phone jammer) seeks dismissal of charges

[jpak]

http://bangornews.com/news/t/news.aspx?articleid=156683&zoneid=500

The same federal judge who presided over his trial nearly two years ago in Concord, N.H., will decide if James Tobin of Bangor will spend the holidays an exonerated man or face a new trial on charges he conspired to disrupt Democrats’ get-out-the-vote effort in 2002 by jamming their phone lines.

U.S. District Judge Steven McAuliffe is scheduled to hear oral arguments on a motion to dismiss the charges against Tobin, 46, on Tuesday. Prosecutors have filed an objection to that motion, asking that McAuliffe retry Tobin. A new trial has been scheduled tentatively for Dec. 4 in federal court in Concord, N.H.

The fact that a trial date has been set is not an indication of how the judge may rule. When federal judges issue scheduling orders, they routinely set deadlines for the filing of trial briefs and other documents as well as set a trial date.

Tobin, a Maine native and long-time Republican strategist, was found guilty in December 2005 of conspiring to make more than 800 repeated hang-up phone calls and of aiding and abetting the making of those calls. He was acquitted of the more serious charge of conspiring to deprive New Hampshire residents of their right to vote after an eight-day jury trial.

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