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No acquittal, but new trial an option for Widmer

The judge said he will take juror affidavits into consideration before he makes his decision.

Submitted Ryan Widmer, 28, was convicted of drowning his wife in their bathtub.

Samantha Grier/Staff photographer Ryan Widmer is led out of the court room after his trial April 2.

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By Denise G. Callahan, Staff Writer Updated 7:35 PM Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Ryan Widmer will not receive an acquittal, a judge has ruled, but there is still a chance the convicted murderer could receive a new trial.

Warren County Common Please Judge Neal Bronson denied the defense’s request for an acquittal, but said he would consider juror affidavits before he makes a decision on granting a new trial.

Defense attorney Charlie Rittgers has said affidavits demonstrate there was juror misconduct during deliberations.

Prosecutor Rachel Hutzel has maintained all along that the affidavits should be off limits, because evidence rules don’t allow cross examination of jurors. In his 17-page ruling released May 20, Bronson said the prosecutors may submit their own affidavits.

“Now we have no choice but to go and talk to the jurors ourselves,” she said. “It’ll be interesting to see what the final legal implications are, but it raises great concern for the sanctity of a jury.”

On April 2, a jury found Widmer guilty of drowning his young bride, Sarah Widmer, in the bathtub of their Hamilton Twp. in August 2008. Following the verdict, Rittgers asked the judge to either acquit or grant Widmer a new trial, based on statements made by several jurors.

Jurors said during the 22-hour deliberation, other jury members acted improperly. Rittgers contends Widmer did not receive a fair trial for several reasons, chief among them is that jurors experimented on their own on how fast they air-dried after bathing and discussed it during deliberations. The crux of the entire case has been that the drowning scene was virtually dry when first responders arrived.

No surprise

Rittgers was not surprised Bronson denied the acquittal for Widmer. He said it would have been a “long shot” for Bronson to acquit Widmer after the jury reached its guilty verdict.

Widmer is now serving 15 years to life in the Warren Correctional Institution near Lebanon.

Rittgers said the judge will have to find the jury behaved improperly when several jurors conducted at-home experiments to see how long they air-dried after bathing.

“The one affidavit by the juror who indicated that her decision was influenced by the out-of-court experiments is more than sufficient,” Rittgers said. “If I only had that affidavit and that alone it would be sufficient.... There are Ohio cases and federal cases that say when the Constitution of the United States is being violated, the Constitution prevails over any evidence rule.”

However, Hutzel has said the affidavits — which Bronson ruled will be considered — constitute impermissible cross examination of jurors.

Rittgers maintains since he couldn’t cross examine the experimenting jurors, Widmer’s Constitutional right to a fair trial was violated.

Bronson has given the prosecutors 21 days to obtain their own affidavits from jurors. Hutzel said she doesn’t believe Bronson ruled correctly on the affidavit issue, but they will follow the order and talk to the jurors.

Rittgers originally subpoenaed six of the jurors and received sworn affidavits from several about what happened behind closed doors. Rittgers later withdrew the subpoenas. The judge took the various motions under advisement and now has ruled on part of the issues.

It is unclear whether or not the judge will hold a hearing after he receives the prosecution’s affidavits, or will just issue a decision on whether Widmer deserves a new trial, based on juror misconduct.

Hutzel said she and her staff will get the judge all the information he needs to know about what occurred behind the jury room door.

“More importantly, we’re going to try to get justice for Sarah Widmer,” she said. “My heart goes out to the family of Sarah Widmer, who seems to have been forgotten by a lot of people.”

Ryan Widmer Bathtub Murder Case Timeline

Aug. 11: Ryan Widmer dialed 911 at 10:48 p.m. on Aug. 11 and told dispatchers his 24-year-old wife Sarah fell asleep and drowned in the bathtub of their Hamilton Twp. home.
Aug. 13: Ryan Widmer, 28, turned himself in to the Hamilton Twp. police after he learned he would be charged with his wife’s murder.
Aug. 15: A Warren County grand jury, based on evidence of bruising found during an autopsy, and a virtually dry drowning scene, indicted Ryan Widmer for aggravated murder.
Aug. 25: Bond was originally set at $1 million, but defense attorney Charlie Rittgers was able to convince Judge Neal Bronson to lower the bond to $400,000. Widmer was released from the Warren County Jail, but did not make to his wife’s memorial service in time. The murder trial is set for Nov. 17.
Nov. 12: After the defense team revealed they planned to call renown forensic pathologist Werner Spitz, who performed a second autopsy on Sarah, the prosecution requested a trial continuance.
March 23: The two-week trial begins in Warren County Common Pleas Court.
April 2: After deliberating for almost 23 hours, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty on the aggravated murder charge and guilty on the lesser charge of murder. Judge Neal Bronson sentenced Ryan Widmer to a mandatory 15 years to life in prison.
April 9: Following an interview with juror Ray Diss published in the Western Star , defense attorney Charlie Rittgers files a motion for an acquittal or new trial. He maintains jurors improperly relied on information that was not in evidence to convict his client.
April 10: Another juror, Jon Campbell, swears out an affidavit saying several jurors improperly conducted experiments at home to see how long it took them to air dry after bathing.
April 17: Defense attorney Charlie Rittgers subpoenaed several jurors who allegedly experimented and shared their findings with the rest of the panel.
April 22: Warren County Prosecutor Rachel Hutzel’s office files a response to the motion for a new trial and asks Judge Neal Bronson to quash the subpoenas and strike juror Jon Campbell’s affidavit.
April 23: Defense attorney Charlie Rittgers agrees to withdraw the subpoenas and the judge takes all the filings under advisement.
April 23: After several fits and starts, the group that created the “Free Ryan Widmer” Web site holds the first of two candlelight vigils to support the Widmer family and raise money for Widmer’s legal defense.
May 20: Warren County Common Pleas Court Judge Neal Bronson says he would consider juror affidavits before he makes a decision on granting a new trial.