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Defense: Widmer could be free from jail today

Appeals court rules in favor of new Widmer trial

Photos: Photos from Widmer's trial in 2008

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By Denise G. Callahan, Staff Writer Updated 9:13 AM Friday, September 4, 2009

Accused bathtub killer Ryan Widmer will be back in Warren County Common Pleas Court this afternoon, Sept. 4 and could be free on bond by days end.

The 12th District Court of Appeals on Thursday, Sept. 3, denied the prosecution’s bid to appeal Warren County Common Pleas Judge Neal Bronson’s ruling that Widmer deserves a new trial.

Widmer’s attorneys will ask Bronson to reduce the $1 million bond today. Defense attorney Mark Godsey said it is “very possible” Widmer could be released after the hearing.

Widmer was brought back to the Warren County Jail for the hearing from Bulter County, where he has been housed. Community Corrections Manager Tana Johnson said depending on how Bronson rules, Widmer could walk out of the jail this afternoon.

A ruling released Thursday by presiding Judge H.J. Bressler of the Middletown-based appeals court, denied the prosecution’s motion to prevent a new trial.

Widmer, 28, was convicted of drowning his wife, Sarah Widmer, an Edgewood High School graduate, in the bathtub of their Hamilton Twp. home last summer.

Widmer’s mother, Jill, said she can’t get her son out of jail fast enough.

“He’s excited, but very distraught,” she said. “The move to Butler County has not been good. It’s a bigger place, there are fewer things to do and he never gets to go outside. In fact, he can’t even see outside. The visits now are on video conference not even through a glass.”

She spent her life’s savings on the first trial so raising the $100,000 to bail her son out has been tough.

“If they quit putting innocent people in jail it wouldn’t be too crowded,” she said of the Warren County facility.

Warren County Prosecutor Rachel Hutzel issued a news release following the ruling.

“The evidence in the case was strong enough for the jury to have convicted Ryan Widmer. At a new trial, the same evidence that led the first jury to convict will be offered again,” Hutzel said. “We are currently reviewing the options that our office has to ensure that justice is served for Sarah Widmer.”

Widmer’s defense team said it as not surprised by the appeal’s court ruling.

“This is the correct decision and the expected decision,” Godsey said. “We are looking forward to Ryan being vindicated.”

Bronson sentenced Widmer to 15 years to life in prison after his two-week trial in April. Later, Bronson found jurors inappropriately experimented on how long it takes to air-dry after bathing. A key component to the case was the drowning scene was virtually dry when first-responders arrived minutes after Widmer told the dispatcher he had removed his wife from the bathtub.

Bronson agreed with the defense that Widmer’s constitutional right to a fair trial was trampled because the defense couldn’t cross examine the experimenting jurors and he granted a new trial.

Hutzel argued Bronson relied on overturned precedent and ignored trial rules that prohibit questioning jurors about their verdict after the fact, unless there is outside evidence the jury’s behavior was bad.

Widmer’s defense team filed a motion Aug. 24 to refute Hutzel’s position, which argued the jurors weren’t experimenting, but human beings sharing life experiences. She maintains that sharing life experience is an internal influence that occurs during deliberations and is not subject to outside scrutiny. Evidence rules only allow jurors to be interrogated if independent evidence can collaborate suspected juror misconduct.

Godsey said they argued that accepting the prosecution’s appeal is wrong on all fronts and added he is ready to go to retrial this fall rather than waste taxpayer funds on Widmer’s incarceration and the appeal process. He said he did not have an estimate as to when a new trial may begin.

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