Timeline of Ryan Widmer trial: Day 1
9:25 a.m.: Potential jurors filed into the courtroom for the retrial. There are 48 Warren County residents in the group. Judge Neal Bronson tells them they have been summoned for what has been called the “bathtub case.
9:35: a.m. Bronson asks the prospective jurors about their knowledge of the case. About 24 people have heard about the case and have not formed an opinion, eight people have heard about it and formed an opinion and 12 people haven’t heard about the case. He is removing the people who either haven’t heard about or have not formed an opinion. He is instructing them they cannot do any research on this case or discuss it with anyone, including fellow jurors.
9:45: a.m. Bronson sends 40 people to Judge Robert Peeler’s court and he will question the remaining eight individually.
9:50: a.m. Juror number 98 is coming into the courtroom. He is sitting alone in the jury box. He has been following it on TV. Bronson asks him if he can put his conclusion aside and listen to the evidence. Juror responds, “This is such an important case and I probably couldn’t be swayed at this point... I’m afraid I’m too far over.” Assistant Prosecutor John Arnold is questioning the juror. Juror says he doesn’t believe someone can fall asleep and drown in a bathtub. Defense counsel Jay Clark asks him if he can be fair and impartial. The juror says he would do his best, but no he couldn’t be impartial. Bronson dismisses him.
10 a.m.: Juror number 96 said he thinks there is reasonable doubt. Bronson asks him if he can put aside what he’s heard or read about the case. Juror says he can attempt to do that but isn’t sure he can. Juror said he reads newspapers, listened to the news and his daughter’s boyfriend used to live next door to the Widmers. He has never met the Widmers personally. Arnold asks about the drying experiments. Juror said that jury must have had doubts of their own or they wouldn’t have experimented. Juror said he would not be a fair juror for the prosecution. Bronson excuses the juror.
10:15 a.m.: Late juror being questioned about her knowledge of the case. She hasn’t formed an opinion so she joins the 40 other prospective jurors in Peeler’s courtroom.
10:20 a.m.: Next juror said he watched the first trial and he discussed it daily and won’t change his opinion. He is excused without saying what his opinion is.
10:25 a.m.: Next juror followed the trial every day in newspaper and TV. Judge asks if he is firmly entrenched in his opinion. “I’m pretty firmly with my ideas,” the juror says. The juror is friends with victim’s advocate Jane Conn. The juror says he is leaning toward a guilty verdict. Juror discharged.
10:30 a.m.: Next juror followed the case on the news from the beginning. Bronson explains that there is a lot of testimony that can’t be reported in the newspaper or on TV. Judge asks him if he can change his opinion; juror says not likely. He got most of his news from the Middletown Journal and has made up his mind. Judge excuses him.
10:40 a.m.: Next female juror candidate says she has knowledge of case from newspaper and TV and has formed an opinion. She was at the juror hardship day last week. She said it would be too stressful for her. Arnold asks if they would have a hard time bringing her back to a neutral position. “At this point in time it would be very difficult for me,” she said. Clark asks her opinion and she says he’s guilty.
10:45 a.m.: Next juror says he thinks Widmer is guilty based on stories in the Dayton Daily News. He tells the judge he doesn’t think it was bad that the other jurors experimented. Bronson dismisses him.
11 a.m.: Next juror has formed an opinion because he has a lot of respect for former defense counsel Charlie Rittgers. Also, his wife is a pediatric medical assistant and they discussed the case and believe Widmer is not guilty. “I would be objective and listen to the evidence, but I do have my opinion,” the juror says. He said the prosecution would be “in the hole” with him because he believes Ryan is innocent. Bronson dismisses him and will bring the rest of the jury pool back after a break.
11:40 a.m. There are 12 potential jurors now seated in the jury box. Bronson is instructing the jury on what constitutes reasonable doubt using his hands like the scales of justice. He tells them it is the highest standard of proof in the law. The judge reads off witness list which includes many of the people who testified in the first trial. The famous forensic pathologist Werner Spitz, who testified for the defense last time, was on the list but has not been subpoenaed.
Noon: First Assistant Prosecutor John Arnold asks the jurors questions. One juror is removed because he has a pre-planned fishing trip with his son next week. Another juror is dismissed because her fiance just had major back surgery and needs her to look after him.
12:15 p.m.: One juror asks if the panel will be sequestered. Bronson says not during the trial. Arnold asks if anybody has a problem with drawing logical inferences from a set of facts. No jurors nod. Arnold said that question has to do with circumstantial evidence. Arnold then tells the jury they do not have to prove a motive in the case. In the first trial, no monetary or marital problems were proven.
12:25 p.m.: Arnold asks if any of the potential jurors feel they cannot look at autopsy photos, Nobody answers yes. Now Arnold wants to know if any jurors receive electronic news alerts. One man says he gets alerts from the Dayton Daily News and a few other newspapers. Arnold asked if he would delete those messages and the juror said he would.
12:35 p.m.: One juror is a nurse in the Jewish Hospital emergency room and her husband is a cop. She has also been a victim of domestic violence. She said she hadn’t heard about the case until she was driving to court this morning.
12:40 a.m.: Arnold asks next juror member if he is willing to put the prosecution on even standing with the defense, and the juror replied “I’m willing to put you at ground zero,” he said.
12:45 p.m.: One potential juror works as an office manager for a commercial litigation law firm in Dayton. He says he thinks it will be very difficult to find Widmer guilty. Court breaks for lunch.
2:25 p.m.: One potential juror works for a law firm, but has no special knowledge because of that. Next juror said his wife is a former Warren County sheriff’s deputy and worked at the Lebanon Correctional Institution.
2:30 p.m.: A woman says her father in-law has Parkinson’s disease who she needs to take to the doctor and fill out forms for. She also has some doctor’s appointments. Another potential jury member is a Procter & Gamble engineer and said he can put off some projects to sit on the jury. He hadn’t heard about the case until he received the 92-question jury questionnaire.
2:40 p.m.: The juror is a man whose mother had epilepsy as a child but has no problems now. The defense maintains Sarah Widmer had some medical emergency like an epileptic seizure just before she drowned.
2:45 p.m.: Arnold asks all potential jurors if they can stand by their verdict even if it might be unpopular and all the jurors nod yes. He tells jury pool they can’t go out and “play detective” on their own, like driving by the Widmer house in Hamilton Twp. All potential jurors agree not to do that. Arnold questions the man from the Dayton law firm again and asks if he has determined the outcome of the case. “My opinion is it’s a difficult case, I haven’t formed an opinion yet,” he said.
3 p.m.: Defense attorney Jay Clark is taking over questioning the potential jurors. He asks a female juror what she feels about Widmer. She said she doesn’t feel anything because she doesn’t know him or anything about the case. She said there are three sides to every story as she tells her kids. One person’s view another person’s view and the truth. Another juror says it will be an awesome responsibility.
A University of Dayton student said she might not be a good juror because she is young. Clark asks her if she can stand her ground against old jurors. She responds, “I believe so.”
2:30 p.m. One woman says her father in-law has Parkinson’s disease who she needs to take to the doctor and fill out forms for. She also has some doctor’s appointments. Next up is Procter & Gamble engineer, said he can put off some projects to sit on the jury. He hadn’t heard about it until he received the 92-question jury questionnaire.
3:25 Clark asks jurors whether they have ever been accused of doing something they didn’t do. One woman said was and she felt “devastated.”
Clark asks the potential jurors if they know any police officers personally. He asks the man who works at the prison if he’ll give deference to officers who testify. The man said, “no.” The woman who is married to a cop said her husband works mainly for the D.A.R.E. program. Clark asked the college student, who doesn’t know any police officers and has had no contact with police, if a police officer’s testimony should be given more weight. “They should be judged just like anyone else,” the college student said.
3:35 p.m.: Clark begins discussing whether Widmer will testify or not. “If we don’t let him testify are you going to feel cheated,” Clark said. One juror said Widmer might be nervous and do himself more harm than good.
Clark asks the prison worker how he will look at the difference between a police officer testifying, one who has taken the stand many times before, and Widmer who has never testified. He said they would have to take that into account.
3:45 p.m.: Clark is now talking about the 911 call and asks jurors if they have dialed 911 and if they were calm or excited. Most said they were calm. The last jury felt Widmer staged the 911 call and that he didn’t sound panicked enough.
4:20 p.m.: Bronson says jury selection will continue Tuesday. About 40 jurors are left.
4:30 p.m.: Clark asks the potential jurors if they know how serious the decision they have to make for Widmer is. “You’re hold his future in your hands that should be at the top of the list,” one juror said.
Clark asks if someone was ever “roughhousing” and had their head under water. He asks what you would do. “You’d fight to get up,” the prison worker said.
Another juror says a person would be thrashing wildly.
Clark said Widmer’s demeanor has been criticized. All the jurors are saying they have no expectations of how Widmer should or shouldn’t look.
4:40 p.m.: Clark questions jurors about their experience with CPR, “It was very violent,” one juror said.
He’s asks if some deaths can’t be explained. Several jurors say, “yes.”
LEBANON — Ryan Widmer’s attorneys peppered prospective jurors with questions Monday, May 10, on everything from French manicures to how their demeanor would be making a 911 call.
Jury selection began on Monday in the retrial of Widmer, who was convicted last year of killing his wife, but was later granted a new trial after jury misconduct was found.
The critical questioning of potential jurors will continue Tuesday in Warren County Common Pleas Court until a jury is picked.
The defense used the advantage of having information from the first trial in its questioning.
Eight potential jurors were excused by Judge Neal Bronson because they said they had already formed an opinion on Widmer’s guilt. Another two prospective jurors were released for personal reasons.
Widmer, 29, is accused of drowning his wife, Sarah Widmer, in the bathtub of their Hamilton Twp. home on Aug. 11, 2008.
First Assistant Prosecutor John Arnold asked the potential jurors questions regarding circumstantial evidence and the fact the prosecution does have to produce a motive. He also asked them if they could refrain from “playing detective” during the trial.
Jurors found Widmer guilty of murder on April 2, 2009, after two weeks of testimony and almost 23 hours of deliberations. After an avalanche of motions, Bronson threw out the guilty finding and ordered a new trial based on possible juror misconduct.
The crux of the case was that the drowning scene was virtually dry when first responders arrived minutes later at the Widmer home on Crested Owl Court. Jurors admitted to conducting their own drying experiments at home to see how long it took them to dry after bathing.
New defense lawyer Jay Clark got very specific with his questions, addressing the 911 call Widmer made after he found his wife, Widmer’s demeanor during the trial, and even French manicures. Sarah Widmer had a French manicure, but her nails were perfectly intact, something that would have been unlikely had a struggle ensued, the defense has said.
A year ago, jurors heard testimony that Sarah Widmer sustained bruising on her head and neck, marks that led Warren County Coroner Russell Uptegrove to conclude that Widmer drowned his wife.
The defense maintains the marks Uptegrove found were all caused by heroic efforts to revive Sarah Widmer. Medics tried unsuccessfully to intubate her five times and inserted IV lines in her neck and arms.
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