Residency Complaint Against Murphy Dismissed

The Attleboro Election Commission voted unanimously Thursday evening at  to dismiss a residency complaint against School Committee member David Murphy. Jennifer Crowder, who filed the complaint, announced at the beginning of the hearing that she had accepted defeat. She said after the hearing that she would pursue other legal actions against Murphy.

Although the complaint alleged Murphy was not a resident of Attleboro last year when he filed to run for office and when he was elected, the commission was only willing to consider whether he was a resident in mid-July of this year, which is when Crowder filed the complaint. For this reason, Crowder acknowledged Thursday evening that she could not win.

This could just be the end of the first chapter of this story, rather than a conclusion because it appears Crowder is not finished.

"There are other avenues as to which I wish to contend with in regards to improper voting methods and also statements he made under the pain and penalty for perjury," Crowder said after the hearing.

Murphy declined to comment on Crowder's statement. With regard to the hearing, he said he wished he had been given more time to show all the evidence he had in his favor. Murphy was only allowed to make a brief presentation since the commission's decision was obvious once Crowder acknowledged defeat.

"We had 46 exhibits that spoke to my continuous residency from January 31, 2000 to the present," Murphy said. "I hope that anyone who is legitimately concerned about this issue takes the time to review at least some of that evidence. I also hope that everyone has better things to do than look through every little piece of it."

Some of the evidence can be found in the attachment to . Murphy said he would release further exhibits to Attleboro Patch soon.

Murphy added that not only is he currently an Attleboro resident, he lived in this city last year when he ran for office.

"Ms. Crowder's statement that I was not a resident at the time I ran for school committee is simply incorrect," he said.

Attleboro Patch will have more information on this story soon.