A new trial date has been set for the murder case against Robert K. Garner, the Owensboro man charged with the death of Cody Glover in 2017. Potential jury tampering led to a mistrial in the murder case last month. A separate case is being presented to a grand jury for a suspect regarding the potential tampering.
Garner’s new trial date is Aug. 15.
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 Feb. 7, 2022.
Potential jury tampering led to the mistrial that was declared the following day. Daviess Circuit Judge Jay Wethington said no juror was involved in misconduct.
Daviess County Sheriff Barry Smith said Wednesday night that investigation into the potential tampering led to a single suspect. He could not provide any details beyond saying a case was being presented to a grand jury to determine if an indictment will be made.
Wethington said on Feb. 9 that he 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. An order was entered that day to seal in-chamber conferences and the court’s interview of the jury until the investigation was complete.
Wethington said at the time that he had an in-chambers recorded hearing about the allegation with counsel and the juror.
“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,” Wethington said previously. “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.
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.”
Garner, now 22 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. Glover, the passenger, later died in the accident.
A $100,000 cash bond was set in November 2017, and Garner was released from jail in December 2017 when bail was posted.
