Crystal Mason's illegal voting case goes back to appeals court

TARRANT COUNTY, Texas – Texas' highest criminal court announced Wednesday that it will hear the case of Crystal Mason, a Tarrant County woman whose election fraud conviction was previously overturned.

Mason was convicted of illegal voting in 2016 after she cast a provisional ballot that was never counted while she was on probation following a 2012 conviction for tax fraud, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported. She was subsequently sentenced to five years in prison.

The Second Texas Court of Appeals in Fort Worth overturned her conviction in March, arguing that there was evidence that Mason may not have known she was ineligible to vote because of her felony conviction. The case had already been heard before the court, which at the time ordered the lower court to reconsider the case.

Tarrant County District Attorney Phil Sorrells challenged Mason's acquittal in April, insisting she committed a crime.

Mason is represented in her appeal by the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, the ACLU National, the Texas Civil Rights Project, criminal defense attorney Alison Grinter Allen and civil attorney Kim T. Cole.

“While I am ready to close this case and uphold my acquittal, I will continue to hold on to my faith that justice will be done,” Mason said in a statement shared by the ACLU.

“We respect the appeals court's decision to continue to review this case,” said Tommy Buser-Clancy, senior staff attorney for the ACLU of Texas. “We remain convinced that the appeals court made the right decision in overturning Ms. Mason's conviction and entering an acquittal. We look forward to presenting our position to the court.”

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has not provided further information about why it granted Sorrell's request for discretionary review. The court's order states that there will be no oral argument in the case.

“The next step is for the parties to file briefs with the Court of Criminal Appeals addressing the appropriate standard of review and whether Mason's conviction is supported by sufficient evidence,” prosecutors said in a statement to the Star-Telegram.

The Tarrant County District Attorney argued in April that Mason “was convicted based on the testimony of the election judge and poll worker that she read the provisional voter statement, acknowledged that she had provided accurate information, signed the statement, and testified that the language of the statement was clear that a convicted felon such as herself was ineligible to vote.”