LOCAL : Lewis Pleads Not Guilty to Forgery
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SACRAMENTO — Assemblyman John R. Lewis (R-Orange) pleaded not guilty today to a single felony charge of forging former President Ronald Reagan’s name on campaign letters mailed to thousands of California voters in 1986.
Lewis’ plea, in proceedings that took less than a minute, came after nearly three months of legal maneuvering by his lawyers, who had won repeated postponement of the assemblyman’s arraignment as they sought to have the grand jury indictment against him dismissed.
Although those attempts continue, Sacramento County Superior Court Judge James Morris ordered Lewis to appear today to enter his plea.
Morris today ordered Lewis to return to court May 10 for a decision on whether the case will proceed to a post-indictment hearing or go directly to trial based on the evidence presented in the Feb. 6 indictment by the Sacramento County Grand Jury.
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