Former Prince George’s County Council candidate Jerry Mathis was sentenced Friday to six months of probation and 100 hours of community service for election fraud charges, and his request for a new trial was rejected.

County Circuit Court Judge Melanie M. Shaw Geter offered Mathis probation before judgment, given his long-standing ties to the community and lack of a criminal record, but Mathis declined in favor of an opportunity to appeal the verdict.

Discussing his community activism, Mathis, 58, of Fort Washington cited his work on increasing the number of minority businesses receiving government contracts and his opposition to a proposed soccer stadium in Prince George’s County in 2009. This fall, he ran for and lost the District 8 County Council seat.

“I know my best chance is on appeal,” Mathis said Friday morning before the hearing. “At an appeals court, a panel of three judges will focus more on the constitutional issues that are the basis of my request for a new trial.”

Mathis filed a motion April 22 asking for a new trial, based on claims that some jurors fell asleep during the trial, and that a key witness, Charles Summers, who was listed as the treasurer of Citizens for Change, the group attributed with making controversial sample ballots, gave contradictory testimony. Mathis also argued that prosecutors tried to put the burden of proof onto the defense in the case during closing arguments.

“Prosecutors have the higher burden to present truthful evidence and correct that which is wrong,” said Antoini M. Jones, Mathis’ attorney. “...If something’s inconsistent, then there is an obligation to correct it or to bring [the inconsistency] out.”

Mathis was convicted in April of three misdemeanor charges of circulating campaign materials improperly attributed to the 2010 Democratic Party, specifically sample ballots that were called into question during his campaign for the District 8 County Council seat, which he lost to current Councilman Obie Patterson (D) of Fort Washington. Patterson won the Democratic primary in September with about 5,000 votes, with Betty Horton-Hodge in second with around 3,500 votes and Mathis in third with almost 1,500 votes.

Jason Abbott, an assistant attorney general who prosecuted the case along with Franklyn Musgrave, said there was no misconduct by the prosecution during the course of the four-day trial.

“The defense had its cross-examination, and they tried to impeach [Summers], but they were unsuccessful,” Abbott said. “If there were lies in his testimony, the defense had a chance to point them out.”

Mathis and Jones pointed to contradictions between statements made in a taped interview with Summers and his in-person testimony during the trial, regarding who was involved with the Citizens for Change group that published the sample ballot in question, and whose idea the ballot was.

Mathis said he was confident he would receive a more favorable outcome on appeal. He said the sample ballot is an unfair means for incumbents to promote whomever they want to elected office.

“The whole case is political retribution because I went against a system that I believe is corrupt,” Mathis said during the hearing.

ewagner@gazette.net