Reply #25: WI: Signatures on sheriff's forms from same hand [View All]

[rumpel]

By MARK BOXLEY/Capital Newspapers

The same person signed 15 sheriff's race nomination forms turned in by Thomas Gullick in support of Republican candidate Roger Brandner, the state crime lab determined this week.

The report stated that in the opinion of analyst Marshall M. Reed Jr., the 15 signatures on Gullick's forms were "the product of one writer."

Brandner, a Columbia County Sheriff's Department lieutenant, is running against Deputy Dennis Richards in the Sept. 12 GOP primary. Gullick, a Caledonia resident, turned in 140 of the 329 signatures Brandner submitted to get on the ballot.

The documents were sent to the crime lab after Columbia County District Attorney Jane Kohlwey received informal complaints about apparently differing styles and shapes of the signatures attributed to Gullick.

Kohlwey originally said she would need an official complaint to have the signatures examined. But the feedback she received on the street about the signatures prompted her to seek an opinion from the crime lab.

http://www.wiscnews.com/bdc/news/index.php?ntid=96281&ntpid=1