Law enforcement uses roadblock to find jurors for Sheriff John Grismore’s trial

Jury selection for the trial of Franklin County Sheriff John Grismore took place Thursday in North Hero, but the typical court summonses did not produce enough people to seat a full jury. To fill the remaining seats, the court took an unusual approach: pulling drivers over in front of the courthouse.

Grismore faces a charge of simple assault in Grand Isle County Superior criminal court for kicking a person in custody in August 2022. His trial is scheduled to begin July 22.

In an interview Friday, Grand Isle State’s Attorney Doug DiSabito said that Judge Samuel Hoar has the authority to direct the sheriff to find prospective jurors from the public, as happened Thursday afternoon. He said that due to the highly publicized nature of the case, the court dismissed more prospective jurors than usual and ran out during the selection process.

Grand Isle Sheriff Ray Allen said that on Hoar’s instruction, he set up a roadblock on Route 2 outside the courthouse around 3 p.m., stopped every car that passed, and pulled in 16 people to join the selection pool. It took his department around 25 minutes in all, he said.

Andy Julow, the newly appointed state senator for the Grand Isle district, was among those stopped and directed to enter the courthouse, he said. He was returning to his office for a conference call — Gov. Phil Scott’s briefing on the flooding that devastated large swathes of the state in the 24 hours prior — when he said an officer pulled him over and asked him if he was a Grand Isle resident, over 18 and registered to vote.

When he said yes to all three, they directed him to park and enter the courthouse; he’d just been summoned for jury duty.

Ultimately, Julow was dismissed because the jury was filled before his turn to go before the judge, but he said it still took over an hour and he missed his call.

“I was pretty angry, but I tried not to be outward about it,” he said.

Al Crist of Grand Isle wasn’t so restrained. When his wife, Beth Deimling, called him to say she’d be delayed because she was being pulled into a jury draw, he drove immediately up to the courthouse.

“I found the sheriff, and I wasn’t very nice,” Crist said. “I didn’t swear, and I didn’t threaten. But I got about as close as you can.”

Deimling said she had been returning from volunteering in North Hero State Park when she was pulled over. Several other people told her they’d had their workdays disrupted, she said — one asked the judge what he should tell his boss.

“It was very surrealistic,” Deimling said. “Everybody was kind of in shock.”

Overall, though, people were pleasant and mostly understanding, Sheriff Allen said. After he had gotten enough new prospective jurors, he went into the waiting room and thanked them all for their time, he said.

Julow said that the timing was poor: With so many state highways disrupted by flooding, bringing Route 2 to a grinding halt seemed to inconvenience a number of rerouted trucks.

There is a legal provision in Vermont that allows judges to “order the sheriff or other court officer to summon, with or without process, a sufficient number of judicious persons from the county to fill” a jury if there are insufficient prospective jurors present.

The provision is in Vermont’s court rules , which the state Supreme Court is authorized by the Vermont Constitution to write and administer, separate from state law.

Allen said it was the first time he’s received such an order, though he knows of past instances in Grand Isle, Franklin and Chittenden counties.

Julow said that the way the sheriffs executed the order, legal or not, was not fair to residents of that part of the county.

“Drawing people off the street certainly punishes those who live in North Hero and happen to be driving south,” Julow said. “I hope it doesn’t get repeated.”

Read the story on VTDigger here: Law enforcement uses roadblock to find jurors for Sheriff John Grismore’s trial .