Trial kicks off in assault case against Franklin County Sheriff John Grismore

NORTH HERO — Almost two years ago, Franklin County Sheriff John Grismore was caught on body camera video kicking a shackled detainee down onto a bench. On Monday, Grismore sat down in a chair in a North Hero courtroom, where a trial began to determine whether his actions that day amounted to criminal assault.

Grismore, who was a deputy in the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office at the time, twice kicked Jeremy Burrows in a sheriff’s department holding cell in early August 2022. Footage of the incident, which was provided to reporters days after, has sparked a slew of investigations into Grismore’s professional conduct over the past two years, including allegations levied by state lawmakers that he also mishandled department finances.

In this case, Grismore — who was elected county sheriff in November 2022, after the incident had been widely publicized — is facing a charge of simple assault. If a jury finds him guilty, he could face up to a year in prison or a fine of $1,000, or both.

Though the incident happened in Franklin County, Grismore’s case is being tried in neighboring Grand Isle County to avoid potential conflicts of interest, officials have said. The trial is scheduled to run through Wednesday.

Grand Isle State’s Attorney Doug DiSabito, who is leading the prosecution, will have to prove that Grismore both caused “bodily injury” to Burrows and acted “recklessly” in doing so, Judge Samuel Hoar told the jury Monday, in order to meet the definition in state law of a simple assault. DiSabito told the jury in his opening statement that while the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office has policies on hand to prevent such conduct, Grismore’s actions were far out of line.

Pointing to an image of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office logo on a large screen, he told the jury, “then-captain, now-Sheriff John Grismore, ignored all of this — betraying this badge — when he used excessive, unnecessary and unreasonable force upon an individual named Jeremy Burrows.”

The Vermont Criminal Justice Council determined last year that, by kicking Burrows, Grismore violated Vermont’s statewide use-of-force policy, which the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office has adopted. The council also voted to permanently revoke Grismore’s police officer certification as a result.

That’s separate from this week’s proceedings, though, which are set to determine whether Grismore also violated criminal law with the same action.

Grismore’s attorney, Robert Kaplan, argued in an opening statement that it was improper to try to scrutinize Grismore’s actions after the fact, equating the trial with “Monday morning quarterbacking.”

“Police officers act in urgent circumstances and frequently act urgently,” he told the jury, adding that by the end of the trial, “you will understand that this was necessary, that it was effective and that it was fully within the bounds of the law.”

Kaplan suggested that the scrutiny on Grismore, as well as the widespread media coverage of the incident, were tied to anti-police sentiment in the U.S. in the wake of the 2020 police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

He also rejected the characterization of Grismore’s actions as a “kick,” instead referring to it repeatedly as a “foot push.”

Jurors heard from three witnesses on Monday, including the two other Franklin County Sheriff’s Office deputies who were handling Burrows at the time Grismore entered the holding cell and kicked the man. Christopher Major and Karry Andileigh have both since left the sheriff’s office for other police jobs in Vermont, they told the jury. Both also testified that they took issue with Grismore’s use of force.

“Not cool, there’s no need for it,” Major said, asked by DiSabito to describe the now-sheriff’s conduct.

“I felt like it was aggressive. I was uncomfortable with the use of force that took place,” Andileigh said in response to the state prosecutor. Andileigh, notably, flagged Grismore’s kicks to a supervisor at the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office after the fact, she has said previously and reiterated in court Monday.

The jury also started to hear testimony Monday from Vermont State Police Detective Sgt. Daniel Trottier, who conducted an investigation of Grismore’s use of force at the request of then-Franklin County Sheriff Roger Langevin. (Langevin fired Grismore from the sheriff’s office in the wake of the incident.)

DiSabito played for the jury an interview Trottier conducted with Grismore as part of that investigation. Grismore said in the interview that he didn’t think Major and Andileigh — who had fewer years of experience than him — were able to keep Burrows seated in the holding cell on their own. Grismore also claimed that he was looking out for Burrows’ own well-being, arguing it was safer to get Burrows to sit down because the man had fallen on his face in the holding cell just minutes before.

Grismore also told the investigator that he used his foot to push Burrows onto the bench — rather than, for instance, his arm — because he thought Burrows would spit on him, and he wanted to maximize the distance between his and Burrows’ faces.

Body camera footage shows that Burrows had spit on Major before he was brought into the sheriff’s office, though Major and Andileigh have both said under oath previously that they did not see Burrows attempt to spit on any of the officers again.

The jury is slated to hear more from Trottier as the trial continues, as well as from Burrows himself and another former deputy in the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, Mark Lauer. Both DiSabito and Kaplan also said they plan to call expert witnesses on police use of force, to opine on whether Grismore’s conduct was appropriate.

Read the story on VTDigger here: Trial kicks off in assault case against Franklin County Sheriff John Grismore .