Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer acquitted
What You Need to Know
- Ed Troyer, a former detective and longtime spokesperson for the Pierce County Sheriff's department, was elected as sheriff in 2020. Itâs unclear if a conviction would have any bearing over Troyerâs role as sheriff.
- Troyer is charged with false reporting and making a false or misleading statement to a public servant. More background on this case.
- The trial began Nov. 30 after some delays. The state rested its case Dec. 7. The defense made multiple motions for the case to be dismissed, all of which were denied. See updates from the first two weeks of the trial.
- The jury began deliberating on Dec. 14 and returned a "not guilty" verdict that afternoon, acquitting Troyer of both charges.
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Takeaways from Sheriff Ed Troyer's trial
A jury acquitted Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer on false-reporting charges related to his confrontation last year with Sedrick Altheimer, a newspaper carrier.
KNKX South Sound reporter Kari Plog joined KNKX All Things Considered host Emil Moffatt to explain what the verdict means and why this case drew so much attention.
Jury finds Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer 'not guilty' on both counts
The jury has reached a verdict in case against Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer who stands charged with criminal offenses.
After deliberating for about a day, the six-person jury found Troyer not guilty on both counts.
Jury begins deliberations
The jury was sent to begin their deliberation on the case and come up with a verdict Wednesday morning.
Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer is facing one count of false reporting and another count of making a false or misleading statement to a public servant. The standard sentencing range for both offenses â for someone with no criminal history â is up to 364 days in jail and up to a $5,000 fine.
The initial pool of 75 jurors was narrowed to six with four alternates, as is standard in district court. The final group of jurors appear to be majority male and white, with three women and two people of color.
KNKX reported early observations during jury selection highlighted polarized views of policing among the countyâs residents.
During jury selection, one juror identified as a Native man who appears older. Heâs a veteran who said his neighbor is a Tacoma police officer who stole tools from a drug bust, and talked about personal experiences of being racially profiled by officers.
Another apparently white middle-aged man said he was raised to view law enforcement as trustworthy and generally honest. He said he believed that politics are currently interfering with officers' ability to do their jobs, but he also said he knew very little about Troyerâs case and had no opinion about potential political motivations.
An older white woman said she recently moved to the county and mentioned several of her family members have been convicted of crimes but she also has family members who are in law enforcement. She said âI believe and trust in law enforcement but there are those who overstep the boundaries of the law.â
The four alternate jurors were randomly selected at the beginning of the trial. Those jurors were temporarily dismissed Wednesday, but could still be called back, in a pre-determined order, to participate in deliberations if needed.
The dismissed alternate jurors appear to be all three women, all of whom are white, and one white man. The jurors currently in deliberations appear to be all men, four are white and two are men of color.
Court reconvenes after closing statements, jury deliberation expected to start
Court reconvened on Wednesday morning in the criminal trial of Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer. Attorneys delivered closing statements yesterday, and jurors are expected to start deliberating today.
KNKX South Sound reporter Kari Plog is on verdict watch at the courthouse. Follow her on Twitter and check back here for updates.
Legal teams make their final arguments in Troyer trial
Both legal teams summed up their cases for jurors Tuesday afternoon, giving their closing arguments.
Assistant Attorney General Melanie Tratnik went first. She made a detailed argument, explaining the legal requirements of each charge. Tratnik went over each piece of evidence the state thinks proves Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer is guilty of both charges.
Troyer faces one count of false reporting and another count of making a false or misleading statement to a public servant.
âHis story just keeps evolving,â Tratnik said. âFirst there was no threat, then it was clear he wanted to fight, and now, that Mr. Altheimer said he was going âto take him out.â But he didnât say that to Conrad Shadel, he didnât say that to Officer Hobbs, and he didnât say that to Officer Lawless.â
Tratnik argued Troyer lied about being threatened and as a result, wasted the law enforcement resources of the county and terrorized the newspaper carrier. She asked the jury to return a guilty verdict.
âOn January 27th, Sheriff Troyer weaponized the police force to settle a personal petty score with a man who didn't treat them with the deference and the respect that he felt he deserved,â Tratnik said.
Troyerâs defense attorney Anne Bremner described Troyerâs suspicion and fear of Altheimer the night of the confrontation, reminding the jury how angry Altheimer appeared on an officerâs body camera footage and calling Altheimer âthe aggressor.â
Bremner questioned the credibility of the stateâs witnesses and poked holes in the stateâs evidence saying they never actually proved Troyer was lying. Ultimately, Bremner underscored Troyerâs character, calling Troyer a âgreatâ man.
âI submit to you that this trial is a huge waste of resources,â Bremner said. âWhy would Sheriff Troyer make this up? For what purpose, on Godâs green earth, would he ever do that?â
Bremner appeared to become emotional toward the end of her statement as she described the toll the trial has taken on Troyer and his family saying: âHeâs a good man, and I ask you to find him not guilty and free him of all of this.â
Jury deliberations are expected to begin tomorrow.
If convicted, the standard sentencing range for both offenses â for someone with no criminal history â is up to 364 days in jail and up to a $5,000 fine.
Judge denies two motions from the defense to dismiss the case
On Monday, the defense in the criminal trial of Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer rested its case and filed another motion to dismiss.
This motion to dismiss was the focus on Tuesday morning. The defense argued that there wasn't sufficient evidence in the record that the dispatcher who took the call from Troyer is a public servant. The dispatcher, Conrad Shadel, is an employee of South Sound 911.
The motion related to one of the two counts against Troyer, alleging that he made a false or misleading statement to a public servant.
There was some back and forth between prosecutors and the defense about whether the state would be allowed to reopen the case to ask Shadel some basic questions about his status as a government employee.
When he took the stand, Shadel said South Sound 911 collects taxes and offers a number of services for governments across the county. He confirmed that he participates in the stateâs pension system for government employees.
South Sound 911 Board Chair Julie Door, who also serves on the Puyallup City Council, said the agency is a Public Development Authority, and therefore a government entity.
"Yes, it is a governmental agency funded by taxpayer dollars," she told KNKX.
Going back to the "is South Sound 911 a government agency" thing: as a Public Development Authority, SS911 is audited by @WaStateAuditor. Here are some graphs from the office's "Financial Intelligence Tool" for FY21. Public link if you want to know more: https://t.co/mGSa51EiHx pic.twitter.com/wRQbccL86W
— Kari Plog (@KariPlog) December 13, 2022
Derek Young, the outgoing chair of the Pierce County Council who serves as the vice-chair of South Sound 911 board, agreed and told KNKX that the argument that South Sound 911 might not be a government entity is "ridiculous."
Judge Jeffrey Jahns ultimately denied the defense's motion to dismiss the case on this basis. He also denied a separate motion from the defense to dismiss the other count of false reporting.
State brings up past complaint against Troyer, defense rests, closing arguments expected soon
The prosecution sought to admit new evidence about Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyerâs professional conduct in court on Monday. They said it showed several past complaints against Troyer. The state said the information came from an unaffiliated lawyer who sent them an email late last week about the complaints. The state then shared the email with the defense.
The state argued the information in the email directly contradicts Troyer who testified Thursday to a clean professional record.
âThirty-eight years, and I don't have a single complaint of lying, racism, assault, use of force, sexual discrimination or otherwise,â Troyer said on the witness stand. âNot even a report filed, let alone non-confirmed, reported or investigated. Never even had one filed.â
KNKX reported at least two complaints filed against Troyer that led to internal affairs investigations. Investigators determined Troyer didnât violate any department policies in either case, but one led then-Sheriff Paul Pastor to conduct âformal counselingâ with Troyer.
The state argued the email contained at least nine complaints against Troyer, and wanted to use it as part of their cross examination of Troyer in front of a jury.
Ultimately, Judge Jeffrey Jahns ruled that references to the email were not allowed, but the state could ask about the details of a specific complaint about a civilian who believed Troyer threatened him.
Troyer then returned to the stand to continue his testimony for the defense, including showing family photos to the jury. The state then rapidly cross-examined Troyer with a series of "yes" or "no" questions that zeroed in on details in the case.
Assistant Attorney General Melanie Tratnik finished her cross-examination by asking Troyer how he would have handled the situation if one of his deputies were in the position he was in on the night of the incident.
âWould you, if one of your deputies called and said that their life had been threatened outside of their home by someone who knows theyâre a cop - if one of your deputies said that to a 911 dispatcher - wouldnât you want 911 to send everyone?â Tratnik asked.
âNo,â Troyer said.
After a few more questions from the defense, the defense rested and made another motion to dismiss the case. Arguments on the motion are expected tomorrow. The legal teams are also expected to make their closing arguments, after which the jury will start deliberating.
Judge denies the defense's motion to dismiss case
KNKX South Sound reporter Kari Plog is back at court this morning. Judge Jeffrey Jahns denied a motion filed by Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer's lawyers last week to dismiss the case.
Judge Jahns has denied the defense's motion to dismiss the case. I'll tweet updates as I can when Troyer takes the stand for cross-examination.
— Kari Plog (@KariPlog) December 12, 2022
State prosecutors plan to cross-examine Troyer today. The sheriff testified in his own defense on Thursday.
Court resumes, judge to rule on motion to dismiss the case
Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer took the stand on Thursday in his criminal trial for false reporting charges. Those stem from a call he made to dispatchers last year about being threatened by a Black newspaper carrier.
At the heart of the stateâs case is a police report that said Troyer walked back his claims about the threats from Sedrick Altheimer, the newspaper carrier. The detective who wrote that report doubled down in testimony on Wednesday. Troyer told his defense attorney a different story on the stand.
Troyer said the detective, Chad Lawless, had asked him something along the lines of âwhat about the threats?â Thatâs when the sheriff says he told Lawless: âIâm not worried about it.â The defense has asked the judge to dismiss the case against Troyer, arguing the state doesnât have enough evidence. A ruling is expected today.