New Charge Dropped Against Man Pawlenty Pardoned

Published December 15, 2011 5:54AM (EST)

MANKATO, Minn. (AP) — A Minnesota prosecutor says he intends to dismiss a new sexual assault charge filed against a man who had received a pardon in a previous case from a panel that included then-Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a former GOP presidential candidate.

Assistant Blue Earth County Attorney Mike Hanson tells the Mankato Free Press ( ) that the felony sexual assault charge filed against Jeremy Giefer in November 2010 was being dropped because there was no longer enough evidence to go to trial. He says the decision was made after a recent conversation with the key witness.

Pawlenty and two other officials voted in 2008 to grant Giefer's petition for a pardon on his 1994 conviction for having sex with a 14-year-old girl, whom he later married.

Pawlenty ended his presidential campaign in August.

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Information from: The Free Press, http://www.mankatofreepress.com


By Salon Staff

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