The defense told Judge Neal Bronson early on in the three-week trial they received three anonymous calls saying one juror made that statement to her best friend.
Bronson called the juror into chambers. The juror told Bronson she did talk to her friend, but only to inquire about her health. She told the judge she told the friend she could not discuss the case.
The defense team sent a private investigator out to talk to the friend. That friend denied the juror made the statement about Widmer burning in hell, but said she did talk about the case.
“The juror told her the jurors were able to go out for lunch and that she would probably be sequestered during deliberations, a fact that had not been discussed with the jurors in open court,” the motion reads.
The defense said Bronson should have tossed the juror.
The defense pointed a finger at another juror who told a local television station, “It’s just the evidence, to us, did not prove innocence.”
Bronson was emphatic in instructing the jury that the defense doesn’t have anything to prove. He told them the defense could sit playing Sudoku for the duration of the trial.
“An expectation of Ryan to prove his innocence is the equivalent of jurors considering race or ethnicity of a defendant when reaching a verdict,” the motion reads. “Both violate a defendant’s Constitutional right to a fair trial because jurors are considering matters outside of the evidence.”
The defense team also asked Bronson to consider that the evidence did not support a finding of murder.
The defense has until Friday to file its motion for an acquittal and the prosecution has until March 18 to respond to both motions.
The defense also has 30 days from the guilty verdict to file notice of an appeal to the 12th District Court of appeals.
The third jury on Feb. 15, after considering the complicated case for 12 hours, found Widmer guilty of murdering Sarah Widmer, his bride of only 114 days, in their home in August 2008.
Widmer was sentenced to the mandatory 15 years to life in prison. He is still at the Correctional Reception Center in Orient, Ohio, where prison officials are determining where he will serve his sentence.
The third trial spanned 17 days and included 40 witnesses.
Widmer was found guilty in his first trial, but the verdict was thrown out after jury misconduct was discovered. The second trial ended in a mistrial.
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