Webster
CHARLESTON -- A Kanawha Circuit judge refused to allow a man being arraigned on a murder charge go vote.
David W. Kinney, 32, was being arraigned by Circuit Judge Carrie Webster when, according to the Charleston Daily Mail, court-appointed defense attorney Richard Holicker asked Webster, "I'd like to make a motion for him to vote. He can't vote in the jail. It's an admittedly odd request.
"But I ask that I be allowed to walk him to the other end of this building and vote. He takes his right to vote very seriously."
Early voting was being held in the Voter's Registration Office adjacent to the Judicial Annex building.
Assistant prosecutor Maryclaire Akers objected, saying Kinney was "a dangerous criminal and a flight risk who was being held without bond."
Webster denied the request, citing public safety concerns.
"He's potentially violent," Webster said, according to the Daily Mail. "I don't know much about this case. But I think it's very important that people exercise their right to vote."
Webster also noted that there are people all over the state incarcerated but not yet convicted who won't get to vote.
"Well, I'm not going to open that Pandora's box," Webster said. "It's a security risk. Innocent bystanders, and the media attention that would attract people to it. I'm not going to do it."
