Trial for Española councilor’s wife begins
Laura Seeds charged with fraud in his election
SANTA FE — The wife of an Española city councilor is now standing trial on charges that she broke election laws to put him in office.
Laura Seeds, wife of Robert Seeds, is charged with nine counts of possession of another’s absentee ballot, two counts of making false statements relative to Española’s municipal election code and one count of conspiracy to violate the municipal election code. She is accused of forging signatures on several absentee ballots.
Robert Seeds beat District 4 challenger Cory Lewis by two votes in the 2016 election. Lewis filed a civil lawsuit challenging the election results, but state District Judge Sarah Singleton ruled in February 2017 that there wasn’t proof that some voters who submitted absentee ballots committed voter fraud.
Regardless, Laura Seeds was indicted in February 2018 in a case brought by the state Attorney General’s Office.
“The defendant committed illegal actions to make sure her husband was elected to the city council,” Assistant Attorney General Peter Valencia said in his opening statement. “The defendant, Laura Seeds, thought she was above the law.”
Seeds’ attorney, Marlow Hooper, maintained Seeds never did anything illegal.
“She never possessed anyone’s absentee ballot, ever,” Hooper said during his opening statement.
Seeds, 52, is accused of working with 24-year-old Dyon Herrera to falsify absentee ballots.
But last week Herrera pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to violate the municipal election code and agreed to testify against Seeds. The trial is expected to end next week.
Laura Seeds is also charged with one count each of committing intimidation in a municipal election, coercion of a voter and disturbing a polling place in a municipal election during Robert Seeds’ unsuccessful run for mayor in 2018. A trial on those charges is scheduled for next year.