ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, October 23, 1996 TAG: 9610230045
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: MARK CLOTHIER STAFF WRITER
A Montgomery County General District judge dismissed a charge Tuesday against a Radford man accused of lying on the new motor-voter form.
Theron Lee Rice, 20, was arrested Aug. 26 by Christiansburg police after an investigation showed he incorrectly answered a question on a Department of Motor Vehicles application July 22.
Rice's attorney, Mark Hicks, said Rice misunderstood the application.
Hicks said Virginia code requires that for any violation to be punishable it must be done willfully. After hearing testimony, Judge John Quigley agreed and dismissed the charge.
The same form is used to apply for a driver's license, an identification card or voter registration card. Virginia began the motor-voter program March 6.
The felony charge is rare but carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $1,000.
The question Rice answered on the registration form was whether he had been convicted of a felony, which he had, Feb. 23, in Lynchburg Circuit Court on a narcotics charge.
Rice served his time in boot camp and was released June 21, he testified Tuesday.
On the registration form, if an applicant answers "yes" to the felony conviction charge, the next question asks if rights have been restored, and if so, when. Restored rights would make the applicant eligible to vote.
On the form, Rice wrote the date Feb. 23, 1996, as the date when his rights were restored. Rice testified he thought the question asked when his rights were restricted. Which is why, he said, he wrote in his conviction date of Feb. 23.
Rice added he has never voted in any election and has no desire to do so. He said he had made no attempt to restore his voting rights. Rice said he needed the identification card to cash his paychecks.
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