A Blythe city councilman was found not guilty Wednesday of buying votes in a 2018 election, but guilty of supplying alcohol to a minor.
Daniel Martin was under indictment for buying a six-pack of margarita-flavored Mike’s Hard Lemonade and a pack of cigarettes for 18-year-old Jacob Odum. The bribe was to get Odum to vote for Martin’s friend, Phillip Stewart, who then won a special election for mayor by four votes.
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The three-day trial included Augusta Mayor Garnett Johnson and former state senator and Blythe resident J.B. Powell testifying as character witnesses for Martin. Johnson said he’d met Martin during his run for mayor.
The accusation spawned a 2018 civil suit against Stewart that went all the way to the Georgia Supreme Court. Martin’s lawyer then was Jared Williams, now Augusta Circuit district attorney.
Once elected, Williams had to recuse himself, which led to the case being assigned to former DA Natalie Paine, who brought the original indictment against Martin.
In closing arguments Paine said that Blythe was so small, a candidate could easily count voters as they entered the polls, then send out for more as needed.
During the civil trial, one witness said she’d seen Martin drive to the polling place dozens of times on Election Day.
Martin’s mother, Ruth Martin, testified Wednesday the “baby of the family” often drove voters to the polls and was “not popular for it.”
Stewart, Martin and Martin character witness Rebecca Bartlett currently make up three-quarters of the council running the 700-resident town of Blythe, Paine said. She asked why all the voters Martin “helped” appeared to have dementia, disabilities or other problems.
“This is all about power and money,” she said.
Martin attorney Jacque Hawk said Blythe police and Martin accuser Judy Cordova were trying to use Odum to frame Martin for buying votes. Odum had pending unrelated charges which police then made disappear, Hawk said.
The jury deliberated about two hours. While it disagreed that Martin bought the alcohol for Odum to buy a vote for Stewart, the jury found Martin guilty of buying alcohol for the teen.
At trial, Odum’s 16-year-old girlfriend at the time said Martin asked to retrieve the booze after police began investigating. Martin posted a photo of the six-pack on Facebook not long after.
Richmond County Superior Court Judge Jesse Stone sentenced Martin to 12 months probation for supplying alcohol to a minor.
One juror, who declined to give his name, said the jury thought Blythe police had mishandled the investigation and that prosecutors were overly aggressive in pursuit of a guilty verdict.
