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Widmer jury: 9-1-1 call is the real reason for guilty verdict

Warren County prosecutor filed affidavits which say jurors feel vilified.

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

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By Denise G. Callahan, Staff Writer Updated 6:01 PM Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Seven jurors in the Ryan Widmer bathtub murder trial say the “orchestrated” 9-1-1 call helped make their decision for a guilty verdict and talk of drying time was inconsequential.

Warren County Prosecutor Rachel Hutzel’s office filed affidavits on Wednesday, June 10, in which jurors wrote they felt vilified by the entire process following the murder trial on April 2.

“I feel that the media attention and public response to our verdict, particularly after my name was released in the affidavit of Stephanie Sackman, the subpoena, the defense investigator hounding me and the defense attorney calling me, has made my life a living hell and has greatly impacted me and my family,” wrote Angela Roberts.

Warren County Common Pleas Judge Neal Bronson has denied the defense’s request for an acquittal, but said he would consider sworn juror statements from the defense and the prosecution as he ponders whether Widmer deserves a new trial. Bronson has not set a date for his decision.

The defense claims the jury was swayed by experiments a few jurors undertook at home and discussed during deliberations about how long it took them to dry after bathing. The crux of the nine-day trial, where Widmer, 28, was found guilty of killing his young bride, Sarah, in the bathtub of their Hamilton Twp. home in August, was that the drowning scene was virtually dry.

Aside from some of the jurors feeling harassed, the seven jurors the prosecutors talked to all said they agreed the 9-1-1 call Widmer made was “orchestrated,” that they felt Sarah Widmer suffered a violent death — based on the bruising — and that the comments some jurors made about how long it took them to dry after bathing were inconsequential.

One juror, Jon Campbell, came forward after the trial because he said he felt a “moral duty” to report he felt there had been juror misconduct — namely the drying “experiments.”

Hutzel maintains the sworn affidavits are not allowed under state rules because they are tantamount to cross-examining jurors. “What has happened to these jurors is exactly why we have those rules in this state,” she said.

The interviews her office conducted she says show the jury deliberations were just.

“The discussion of air-drying constituted such an insignificant and de minimis part of the jury deliberations, that even if improper, it did not prejudice the defendant and should be disregarded as harmless error,” the memo in opposition to a new trial reads.

Defense attorney Charlie Rittgers has maintained Widmer’s Constitutional rights were trampled because he could not question the experimenting jurors. He said the prosecutor’s claim of harmless error was “bogus” and he is going to ask Bronson if he can respond.

“That is baloney,” Rittgers said. “They totally ignore and do not address Stephanie Sackman’s affidavit where she indicated it was the out-of-court experiment and the discussions of those experiments that influenced her vote.” Hutzel said Widmer’s rights weren’t trampled and Sackman’s affidavit “is of no consequence” because the jurors themselves said there were not “experimenting,” they didn’t set out to time themselves, she said the jurors properly discussed their every day experiences and used their common sense.

Widmer remains in the Warren Correctional Institution, serving 15 years to life.

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