“Who is on the jury will decide the verdict. But if the defense uses the same arguments, it will probably be a mistrial again. And if that judge actually made some of the comments I’ve heard he made about Mr. Grisham and his wife, I seriously question if he’s fit to be the judge again,” Coterrill said.
Full-blown case of judicial rot going on in the county, leaving the door open for a smackdown from a higher court - full story below -
Grisham juror decries his ‘guilty’ vote
Temple Daily Telegram
October 27, 2013
by Deborah McKeon
The misdemeanor trial of U.S. Army Master Sgt. Christopher Grisham was “a waste of public resources,” said one of the jurors who voted to convict Grisham.
The trial ended Oct. 18 with a mistrial when the six-person jury couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict about Grisham’s guilt or innocence. A retrial is scheduled to start Nov. 18.
Grisham is charged with interfering with the duties of a peace officer after a March 16 arrest by Temple Police Officer Steve Ermis. Grisham was hiking with his son to fulfill a 10-mile Boy Scout merit badge requirement and took with him his AR-15 rifle and a concealed handgun for which he had a permit. Grisham said the weapons were for protection from wild animals seen in the area.
Ermis’ trial testimony was that he tried to take Grisham’s rifle because he was afraid for his safety and first charged him with resisting arrest. That charge was later changed to interfering with the duties of a peace office after Sgt. Thomas Menix, one of the responding officers, saw the dash-cam video and didn’t believe the charge was accurate.
Grisham turned down two plea bargain offers from the county attorney’s office because he said he had done nothing wrong.
Juror Larry Coterrill said Thursday he voted “guilty,” although he had reservations.
“I was shocked I was picked for the jury since I’m a corrections officer. Why did they put me in that position?” Coterrill said during a phone interview on Thursday. “In fact, that was the question we all asked after they closed the door on us for deliberations, considering the other jurors were a retired Marine, a police officer, a retired city of Temple employee and two teachers.”
Coterrill said he normally makes assumptions about people and had done so after hearing in passing about Grisham’s arrest in April.
“But as I watched the police dash-cam video during the trial, my first thought was that things didn’t go properly and that Grisham didn’t do anything improper or illegal,” he said. “I saw the officer try to take his weapon without warning and things escalated quickly after that. My opinion changed. I believed Grisham was not guilty because of mitigating circumstances and that the entire situation wasn’t his doing.”
Coterrill said he expected a quick verdict, but the process “drug out.” The jury was immediately split 3-3, he said.
During the first 12 of the 16 hours the jury was in deliberation, Coterrill supported a “not guilty” verdict, he said, mainly because of the gray areas of the law’s definition for criminal negligence.
“There’s a lot of room for interpretation,” he said.
“But then we were told we couldn’t consider mitigating circumstances. We could only determine if he had done the things he was accused of. But he did them in self-defense. He was never told he was detained or that he was being investigated. That jury charge didn’t sit well with my conscience. It wasn’t a good charge,” Coterrill said.
The jury charge the attorneys agreed on Tuesday night was changed Wednesday morning, leaving out the portion about self-defense, Grisham’s attorney Blue Rannefeld said.
Following an impromptu meeting with the defense attorneys and Judge Neel Richardson, Rannefeld told the courtroom audience, “The judge is changing the jury charge. Everyone needs to remain calm no matter what happens.”
Richardson overruled Rannefeld’s objection to omitting the portion about self-defense and his motion that the judge disqualify himself.
Coterrill said he thought the mitigating circumstances should have been considered, even though “they muddied the waters some.”
“Life is very rarely black and white. We couldn’t ask why. We weren’t allowed to even consider why. We were missing a lot of information. But based on what we were allowed to consider, I had to change my vote to guilty.”
Coterrill said he doesn’t think Ermis is a bad guy, but he believed Ermis’ actions “were a little over-zealous.”
“A round of apologies should have been offered and drinks bought for everyone. This trial was a waste of public resources,” Coterrill said.
Coterrill said he expects the next trial will end in a mistrial as well.
Bell County Attorney Jim Nichols said on Monday that he and his staff will continue to prosecute Grisham based on the 5 to 1 poll of the jury.
Coterrill said five jurors voted “guilty” because Grisham physically did the things he was accused of. But they weren’t allowed to consider a self-defense argument, he said.
“And it was in self-defense,” he said.
“Who is on the jury will decide the verdict. But if the defense uses the same arguments, it will probably be a mistrial again. And if that judge actually made some of the comments I’ve heard he made about Mr. Grisham and his wife, I seriously question if he’s fit to be the judge again,” Coterrill said.
Contact information for the other jurors was not available. Cotterill came forward after he made a statement about the trial in a phone call between him and member of
DontComply.com that was recorded and posted on YouTube.
MORE
“And then he referred to Grisham and his wife in judge’s chambers as yokels, saying he was going to ‘teach them a lesson about being good parents,’” Rannefeld said. “That infers he was planning to use the trial and any judicial rulings to do that.”
Bell attorney confident of conviction in Grisham case
Temple Daily Telegram
October 22, 2013
by Deborah McKeon
BELTON — Despite failing to get a conviction the first time, the Bell County Attorney’s Office will continue to prosecute U.S. Army Master Sgt. Christopher Grisham in a gun-rights case that has gained national attention.
The first attempt ended in a mistrial Friday when the six-person jury failed to reach a unanimous decision.
Five of the jurors voted to convict Grisham, County Attorney Jim Nichols said Monday.
Two of the jurors were connected with law enforcement, defense attorney Blue Rannefeld said — one a police officer and the other a corrections officer.
Rannefeld plans to file several motions based on what he perceives as the “highly prejudicial and biased statements Judge Neel Richardson made in the judge’s chambers and in open court,” he said Monday.
Rannefeld said he will seek a change of venue because he doesn’t think Grisham can get a fair trial in Bell County.
“I also will be filing to have Richardson recused from being the judge in the new trial,” scheduled for Nov. 18, Rannefeld said. “He commented on the weight of my evidence and hurried me along all during the trial while he allowed the prosecution to proceed at their own pace. Richardson also made rulings without allowing my objections a number of times.”
“It’s insane that they are wasting county money to continue to try a Class B misdemeanor,” said Larry Keilberg, national director for National Association of Legal Gun Defense, which is funding Grisham’s defense. “This is the most messed-up mess I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Grisham is charged with interfering with the duties of a peace officer after his March 16 arrest by Temple Police Officer Steve Ermis while hiking with his son, Chris, on a 10-mile Boy Scout merit badge hike. The elder Grisham carried an AR-15 rifle and a concealed handgun for which he had a permit. He said he needed it for safety purposes since feral hogs, coyotes, a puma and other wild animals were seen in the area.
Ermis testified he tried to take the rifle from Grisham because he was afraid for his safety. He said Grisham resisted arrest, which was the original charge. That charge was changed to interfering with the duties of a peace officer after Sgt. Thomas Menix viewed the police dash-cam video.
The case drew attention around the country when a cell phone video of the arrest taken by Chris went viral on the Internet. A brief showing of the police dash-cam video appeared on YouTube before being pulled.
Richardson placed a gag order on the police dash-cam video during Grisham’s pre-trial hearing.
Although a plea bargain was offered to Grisham, he refused to plead guilty, saying he had done nothing wrong.
The jury deliberated for 16 hours without reaching a unanimous decision before Richardson declared a mistrial Friday. The 16-hour deliberation is the longest for a misdemeanor trial in Bell County history, Nichols said.
Rannefeld decried the fact that the judge changed the jury charge overnight before reading it to the jury on Friday and gave Rannefeld no time for rebuttal.
“And then he referred to Grisham and his wife in judge’s chambers as yokels, saying he was going to ‘teach them a lesson about being good parents,’” Rannefeld said. “That infers he was planning to use the trial and any judicial rulings to do that.”
Selfdefensefund.com, with Keilberg at its helm, offered to put up $1 million to cover Grisham’s legal expenses.
“We will go as many times as they want to go. Let’s play ball!” Keilberg declared during a press conference after the mistrial was announced.