Warren County Common Pleas Judge Neal Bronson lowered Widmer’s bond to $400,000 from $1 million after meeting with his defense and the prosecution in closed chambers.
At first it seemed as if today might not be the day Widmer would be freed. His mother Jill Widmer and his attorneys went to the clerk’s office to see if the old $400,000 bond was still in effect. It wasn’t. But Widmer had a bail bondsman on hand to post the new bond, for a nonrefundable fee of $40,000.
Widmer has been in either a prison or jail cell since April when he was convicted of drowning his wife, Sarah Widmer, in the bathtub of their Hamilton Twp. home last summer.
Neither Widmer once released, nor his mother would comment, except Jill Widmer said she was feeling much better as the bond was being posted. Ryan Widmer is not on a monitor but he cannot move from his mother’s Mason home and is allowed no contact with Sarah’s family.
In July, Bronson ruled Widmer deserves a new trial after finding jury misconduct during the deliberations. The prosecution appealed the ruling.
The 12th District Court of Appeals on Thursday, Sept. 3, denied the prosecution’s motion to appeal Bronson’s decision.
Warren County Prosecutor Rachel Hutzel has not announced yet whether she’ll appeal the decision to the Ohio Supreme Court, but she didn’t like Bronson’s latest decision.
“We disagree with the bond amount set by the court for a crime of this nature,” Hutzel stated in a news release. “Regardless of this fact, we will continue forward to insure that justice is sought for Sarah Widmer.”
One of Widmer’s appellate attorneys, Pierre Bergeron, said Hutzel can only appeal the two paragraph appeals court ruling, not Bronson’s decision.
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.
Widmer’s attorneys Hal Arenstein and Jay Clark said they were “superstitious” and have not yet started working on trial strategy. Since they are basically starting from scratch, they expect the new trial to start early next year. As for Widmer?
“I think he is going to have to go about getting his life back together, and start helping us get ready for trial and he needs to be with his family,” Clark said.
Charlie Rittgers, who won the new trial — after an avalanche of court filings — said he was happy for his former client.
“I personally feel wonderful, I’m happy the 12th District decided not to take the prosecutor’s appeal,” he said. “Obviously I think Ryan deserves a new trial and I hope he is one step closer to having another day in court.”
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