REHOBOTH - The lawyer for embattled Selectman Christopher Morra used a handwriting and documents expert during a hearing Wednesday to challenge more than 300 signatures on petitions calling for Morra's recall.

Handwriting expert Marc Seifer questioned 135 signatures, which he said were illegible, and more than 170 which he said could represent one person signing for two people, such as a husband and wife.

But, several voters who had their signatures challenged came forward to testify that the signatures were authentic, including a disabled woman and her husband who presented a power of attorney showing that he could sign in his wife's stead.

The hearing before the town board of registrars, which is charged with certifying voters' signatures on petitions, was called after Morra, through his attorney, registered objections to procedures and signatures on petitions related to the recall.

Town Clerk Kathleen Conti last week informed selectmen that requirements had been met to conduct a recall election. But a recall could be derailed if the board or a court rules that the petition process was faulty. Morra's attorney, Preston Halperin of Pawtucket, said requirements of the town's recall statute were not followed and that the process was so flawed that the only remedy is to throw out the current recall and start over.

William McDermott, who represented petition drive organizer Mary Beth Moriarty at the hearing, said his client had not been notified of any challenge to the petitions and that her and others' rights to due process are being violated.

Halperin questioned Moriarty and Conti about procedures followed in collecting the signatures and whether rules set out in the town recall provision were followed, including a requirement that the person collecting the names sign the forms attesting the signatures were genuine.

Although Moriarty signed the forms, she testified that as many as 100 people collected signatures and that she kept a list of those to whom she gave the numbered petitions.

Moriarty, who said she signed the petitions when she received them from the town clerk and before collecting any signatures, said she did so on Conti's instructions. But she said she considered all of those involved in distributing the petitions trustworthy.

Conti said Moriarty signed the forms, but only to attest to the genuineness of her and Moriarty's signatures. She said Moriarty didn't need to attest to the validity of the signatures of the petition signers.

The town clerk, in response to questioning by Halperin, said she handed out 100 petition forms to Moriarty on July 25 and another on July 26, but dated the forms July 25.

Halperin also pointed out that the forms did not bear a required notation indicating how many copies had been distributed. The requirement, Halperin said, is a security measure intended to rule out potential fraud.

Conti said she was guided by documents she inspected from a previous recall, which she said did not all display the number of forms given out.

Halperin also asked whether any members of the board of registrars, which must verify the validity of petitions for the recall, had circulated any of the forms themselves. Registrars Ray Burt and Sandra Strange both signed the petitions, according to Conti. However a lawyer for Moriarty said a page for collecting signatures had been assigned to Burt but was never used.

Conti said following the hearing that she does not consider the two board members signing the recall petition a reason to recuse themselves from their responsibilities in overseeing the certification of the recall forms. Conti said it was she who did the work in checking the signatures.

Halperin also challenged Conti's use of signature stamps to mark the petitions as verified on behalf of other registrars.

McDermott, the attorney for Moriarty, said the handwriting expert failed to show that signatures on the petition were faulty and said his client and voters whose names were challenged were not notified of the challenges as required by state law. Halperin said the law requires the town to give notice, not his client.

Under questioning by McDermott, Moriarty said care was taken to instruct those collecting signatures in how to conduct themselves.

"We were very careful," said Moriarty, who added she knew almost all of those assigned to collect names and had no concerns about the authenticity of the signatures.

"Of course they're genuine," she said.

Conti last week notified selectmen that a recall election should be called within seven days. However, no selectmen's meeting is scheduled before Sept. 5 and Morra has publicly said he will not participate in any actions or votes on the recall issue because it would be a conflict of interest.

Conti said following Wednesday's hearing that she will confer with town Counsel Max Volterra before scheduling a meeting to rule on Morra's objections, but gave no time frame for such a meeting.