Franklin County Sheriff John Grismore in Grand Isle County Superior criminal court in North Hero on Tuesday, July 23. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger
A week after a jury failed, for a second time, to reach a verdict in the assault case against Franklin County Sheriff John Grismore, the prosecutor in the case announced he will not put the sheriff on trial again.
Grand Isle State’s Attorney Doug DiSabito said Monday that he’d dismissed the case “with prejudice,” which means it cannot be brought back to court.
Grismore was charged with simple assault stemming from an August 2022 incident in which the then-sheriff’s deputy kicked a shackled detainee — video of which has since been widely published.
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During two separate proceedings, first in late July and then again earlier this month, Judge Samuel Hoar declared a mistrial because the two slates of jurors could not reach a unanimous decision over whether Grismore was guilty. In the recent proceedings, jurors spent more than 17 hours deliberating over three days before Hoar determined he had seen enough.
“After any mistrial, I review a case and evaluate all the circumstances and decide whether another trial is a good use of public resources and is in the interests of justice,” DiSabito said in a press release. “I did that here and have determined that a third trial is not in the public interest.”
Notably, DiSabito said he might have taken the case to trial again had Grismore not already been sanctioned by the Vermont Criminal Justice Council, which oversees police conduct in the state.
Last December, the council found that in kicking the detainee in 2022, Grismore had violated the state’s policy on police use of force. As a result, the council voted to revoke his law enforcement officer certification.
To be sure, the policy violation had no legal bearing on Grismore’s ability to serve as sheriff under Vermont law. (Nor would a criminal conviction, had jurors made that determination.)
But the council’s decision did limit what Grismore can do on the job. He is no longer allowed to participate in many facets of standard police work, the criminal justice council’s chair said at the time, such as investigating crimes or going out on patrols.
“Had the Vermont CJC not taken this definitive action, the right thing in this matter would likely have been to take this to trial again,” DiSabito said Monday. But he emphasized that “would not be happening.”
“This case is now closed,” he said.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Prosecutor dismisses assault charge against Franklin County Sheriff John Grismore.