Potential jury tampering led to the mistrial that was declared Tuesday in the murder case against Robert K. Garner. The Daviess County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the allegations. Daviess Circuit Judge Jay Wethington said no juror was involved in misconduct. A new trial date could be set during Garner’s court appearance next month.
Garner was charged with murder in 2017 after he was alleged of crashing his car while driving under the influence and causing the death of his passenger Cody Glover. The trial began Monday.
Wethington declared the mistrial Tuesday morning.
“We had an issue involving an allegation, and as we are required we had an in-chambers recorded hearing about that with counsel and the juror,” Wethington said Wednesday. “As a result of that, after I spoke with the rest of the jury privately, I confirmed that there was an issue of jury tampering that needed to be investigated. And it would be unfair for the jury to be thinking about that while they were hearing the case and it would prevent, in my opinion, a fair trial. A motion by the defense was upheld to declare a mistrial.”
Wethington said none of the jurors or witnesses were involved in any wrongdoing.
“I can assure you there is no allegation whatsoever that any juror was involved in any misconduct,” he said. “There is no allegation of that nature whatsoever.”
Wethington couldn’t detail how the allegation originated due to the open investigation, but said “it’ll all be open for review” upon the conclusion of the investigation.
He said because the case was scheduled long in advance and both parties have spent so much time in preparation, the mistrial was “so disheartening to the litigants.”
Sheriff Barry Smith also said he couldn’t get into the details of how the allegations originated, but said the investigation will be similar to any other case.
“It’s not much different than any other case that we deal with,” he said. “We will try to ascertain what happened that ultimately caused the mistrial and see if there was any type of criminal act that was involved that could in turn be a jury tampering charge.”
Jury tampering is a Class D felony. According to state law, “a person is guilty of jury tampering when, with intent to influence a juror’s vote, opinion, decision or other action in a case, he communicates or attempts to communicate, directly or indirectly, with a juror other than as a part of the proceedings in the trial of the case.”
Smith said DCSO is still early in the process of the investigation, which he hopes to wrap up in the next few days.
“We are trying to put some of the pieces to the puzzle together,” Smith said. “This is an alleged situation. Obviously there was enough concern to cause a mistrial. But it doesn’t necessarily always mean that there was intent there, which would be required for a jury tampering case.”
A new court date for Garner was set for March 2, at which time a new trial date may be selected or other motions may be made by the parties involved.
Garner, now 21 years old, was 18 when he was charged with murder and driving under the influence following a single-vehicle accident the morning of Sept. 3, 2017, at the intersection of U.S. 60 East and U.S. 231 North.
A $100,000 cash bond was set in November 2017, and Garner was released from jail in December 2017 when bail was posted.
Law enforcement alleges Garner ran a red light while he was speeding and intoxicated. A drug test revealed alcohol and PCP in Garner’s system, according to court records.
Police reports from the incident said Garner’s vehicle became airborne and flipped before coming to a rest overturned in a lake. Glover, the passenger, later died in the accident.
