A post-trial hearing for former state Rep. Stephen LaRoque will happen Feb. 13, barring another continuance.
Monday’s continuance order by Senior U.S. District Judge Malcolm Howard marks the fifth new date since the hearing was set for Sept. 12.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Dennis Duffy asked for more time, and the hearing moved to Sept. 26. It again moved to Oct. 10.
On that day, Howard met with prosecutors and defense counsel for nearly an hour before returning to the courtroom and issuing a continuance on the basis of further research needed by the court and by both parties.
A jury convicted LaRoque of 10 counts relating to federal agriculture loan fraud in June.
But, evidence related to the juror misconduct that led to Howard dismissing two of the original 10 counts led defense counsel to request a hearing to set aside the entire conviction.
LaRoque attorney Joe Cheshire claimed in his motion Juror No. 3’s research on tax law regarding S-corporations, his conversations with other jurors about the information and his decision to vote guilty on all counts means that if the two specific tax fraud counts were thrown out, so should the others.
By sharing the research and explaining how it changed his vote, the juror – Jerry Miller of Jones County – may have affected the other jurors’ votes to convict and therefore violated LaRoque’s right to an impartial jury.
LaRoque said he couldn’t comment on the case, and a message left for defense attorney Elliot Abrams wasn’t returned as of press time. The U.S. Attorney’s Office typically doesn’t comment on pending cases.
Once the hearing occurs, Howard will rule whether LaRoque’s rights were violated.
The hearing is set to take place Feb. 13 at 10 a.m. at the U.S. Courthouse in Greenville.
Wes Wolfe can be reached at 252-559-1075 and Wes.Wolfe@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter @WolfeReports.