The Michigan criminal trial of Stefanie Lambert, a lawyer who’s advanced dubious claims of voter fraud across an array of battleground states, will take place in the months ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election, a judge indicated Thursday.
Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Jeffery Matis said he’s planning for Lambert’s trial to begin at 8:30 a.m. July 15. She’s facing four felony charges over allegations that she conspired to improperly access tabulators that were used in Michigan’s 2020 election.
The July 15 date could change as Lambert’s lawyer, Daniel Hartman, said he had a conflict in July and urged the judge to hold the trial in September, which would coincide with some of the final weeks of this fall’s race between Republican former President Donald Trump and Democratic President Joe Biden.
Lambert’s upcoming trial, which could feature a handful of prominent witnesses, could shine new light on the efforts of Trump supporters to challenge his loss in the 2020 election as Trump seeks another term in the White House.
Matis said he wanted to get Lambert’s case to trial relatively quickly, while also giving Hartman, who became Lambert’s attorney last month, time to prepare.
“I think it’s an appropriate balance of all of the interests here,” Matis said of the July 15 date.
Last summer, special prosecutor D.J. Hilson announced felony charges against Lambert of South Lyon, Republican former attorney general nominee Matt DePerno of Kalamazoo and former state Rep. Daire Rendon of Lake City.
The three individuals were allegedly involved in a scheme to convince clerks in rural areas of Michigan to hand over tabulators and, then, to run tests on the equipment in Oakland County as Trump supporters spread unproven conspiracy theories that there was something wrong with the technology used to count votes in the 2020 presidential election.
Lambert’s four felony charges include undue possession of a voting machine, conspiracy to commit unauthorized access to a computer system and willfully damaging a voting machine. Each charge carries a prison term of up to five years.
During Thursday’s court hearing, Hilson said he would expect the upcoming trial to last two weeks.
“We’re prepared to go,” Hilson said of starting the trial, “and would appreciate something sooner than September.”
Hartman said he believes the trial will last three to four weeks.
“It is a very significant case with significant consequences,” Hartman told the judge Thursday as he pushed for a September trial date.
A grand jury authorized the charges against Lambert, DePerno and Rendon. DePerno and Rendon have chosen to go to district court for preliminary examinations, in which judges can decide if their cases can proceed, instead of going directly to trial.
Lambert chose to go directly to trial.
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