Franklin County Sheriff John Grismore is seen on Monday, July 22, in North Hero during his trial in Grand Isle County Superior criminal court for simple assault for striking Jeremy Burrows in 2022, who was under arrest and in shackles at the time. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger
NORTH HERO — After a four-day trial and more than five hours of deliberations, jurors had yet to reach a verdict — or to call it quits — Thursday night in the criminal case against Franklin County Sheriff John Grismore, who is facing a jury this week for the second time.
Jurors in the latest trial, which started on Monday, were slated to return Friday morning to see if they could reach a unanimous decision.
Grismore is facing a simple assault charge for repeatedly kicking a handcuffed and shackled man who was detained at the sheriff’s department in August 2022.
In July 2024, Grismore’s case went to trial for the first time, but the proceedings ended in a mistrial after an initial jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict over whether or not he was guilty. Jurors spent more than five hours stewing over the case then, too.
On Thursday, the latest panel of jurors first returned from their deliberations in Grand Isle County Superior Criminal court around at 8:30 p.m. after informing the judge, Samuel Hoar, that they could not reach a unanimous decision.
But Hoar urged the jurors to consider either debating the case further that night or coming back in the morning. Just minutes later, they informed the judge that they had chosen the latter option.
“Come back fresh,” Hoar said in response. “And we’ll see what tomorrow brings.”
Read the story on VTDigger here: After hours of deliberations, jury yet to reach a verdict in second assault trial of Franklin County Sheriff John Grismore.