10 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY MARCH 27-APRIL 2, 2025 www.montereycountynow.com Although it has been months since the new Carmel Unified School District board was elected and seated, former board member Anne-Marie Rosen is just beginning to reckon with her charges of election fraud in the lead-up to the 2024 election. On Thursday, March 20, a Monterey County Superior Court judge denied a demurrer—an effort to dismiss the case—which argued against all counts that the District Attorney’s Office filed against her. In October of last year, one month before the election, Rosen was charged with four felony counts for falsely declaring her candidacy and submitting false voter registration related to election fraud for misrepresenting her address. She has since said that the charges were filed to damage her chances at getting re-elected to the CUSD board. The confusion, according to her attorney and case documents, lies in the fact that Rosen’s family owns multiple properties in the county. Rosen bought a home in 2021 just 1.2 miles away from where she was registered to vote. At that time, school board members were elected at-large. However, new district lines drawn in October of 2022 cut through Carmel Valley, placing the new home in Trustee Area 5 and her old home in Area 4, which is not up for election until 2026. Rosen maintains that when she registered to vote and then to run in Area 5, she intended to reside there by Election Day. “A demurrer is a pretty unusual motion,” says Chief Assistant District Attorney Berkley Brannon. “It’s hard for the defense to win that.” With the motion denied, the rest of the case will proceed, getting to the sufficiency of the evidence; the next scheduled court appearance is April 3. Court documents filed by the defense state that Rosen’s opponent, Jason Remynse, who was appointed to fill a vacancy mid-term, hired a private investigator. He then contacted the Monterey County Registrar of Voters, which then referred the private investigator’s report to the District Attorney’s Office. Rosen’s attorney, Juliet Peck of Lawrence & Peck, claims the charges amount to a violation of Rosen’s constitutional right to run for office. Peck believes that in public statements, the DA’s Office should have disclosed Remynse’s identity, rather than refer to him anonymously as a “concerned citizen.” “This is a fact voters should have known,” Peck says. “The DA’s Office allowed itself to be used as a tool in the school board election.” In the 2024 November election, Remynse won the Area 5 CUSD seat against Rosen in the first-ever district elections with nearly 60 percent of the vote, or 1,425 votes over Rosen’s 965. (Remynse says his focus is on serving CUSD. “Ms. Rosen’s case is a legal matter that is between her and the legal system,” he says.) “I just find this to be a baffling prosecution,” Peck says. “Everyone knew she would be fully occupying her Area 5 home by the time of the election.” Demurrer Denied Election fraud case against a former CUSD member trudges forward. By Katie Rodriguez Former CUSD board member AnneMarie Rosen (above) before her court hearing on March 20. “She should be fully vindicated,” says her defense attorney, Juliet Peck. “That is my commitment.” NEWS “I just find this to be a baffling prosecution.” DANIEL DREIFUSS Special Limited Certificate APY= annual percentage yield. Minimum opening deposit $100,000. Maximum $999,999.99. Funds to open this certificate must be new to Monterey CU. New to Monterey CU means the funds must not have been on deposit with Monterey CU in the last six months. Limit to one promotional share certificate per member. Offer available for limited time starting 01/15/2025, and subject to change or cancellation without notice. Early withdrawal penalties apply. LIVE FULL For more information, visit us at www.montereycu.com or call us at 831.647.1000 or stop by a branch nearby Salinas | Monterey | Hollister | Carmel
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