NORTH HERO, Vt. (WCAX) – The jury in the retrial of Franklin County Sheriff John Grismore will resume deliberations on Monday.
After a day-and-a-half of deliberations over the misdemeanor assault charge against the sheriff, the jury has yet to reach a verdict, so Judge Samuel Hoar decided to send them home for the weekend.
It comes as one juror was singled out for not agreeing to follow the judge’s instructions in the case, hindering deliberations. Judge Hoar Friday offered a sharp rebuke. “The court will remind you that it is your obligation as jurors to follow the law as I give it to you. A failure to do so would be juror misconduct, which would result in a mistrial. Meaning that all of our work was wasted and the court would have to convene another jury to hear this case,” he said.
Grismore was charged with simple assault for kicking shackled inmate Jeremey Burrows in 2022 when he was a captain with the department. The state calls it a case of simple assault, pointing to the fact that Grismore was not in uniform and could have used other means of getting Burrows to comply. Grismore has always maintained that he did nothing wrong and that he was helping less experienced officers get a situation under control.
It’s the second time the case is being heard by a jury following a mistrial this summer after jurors could not come to a unanimous decision. During the previous trial, the jury deliberated for only four hours before the judge decided they were deadlocked.