Ed Troyer (photo, left), the elected sheriff of Pierce County, Washington, was acquitted of falsely reporting his encounter with a black newspaper carrier after a week-long trial that ended on Wednesday, December 14, 2022, with a jury verdict in his favor (read story here).
From news stories it appears his lawyer, Anne Bremner, described as a “celebrity lawyer” in some media accounts, successfully shifted blame for the massive police response to Troyer’s 911 call to the police dispatcher.
Troyer allegedly told the dispatcher the carrier, Sedrick Altheimer, threatened to kill him. Over 40 police officers responded to the incident. Altheimer, who said he was just delivering newspapers, is suing the county for $5 million. Troyer has a restraining order against him for allegedly continuing to harass Altheimer after the original incident.
The lawyer representing Altheimer in the lawsuit told KING 5 News, a Seattle TV station, that in her opinion Troyer should’ve been convicted, but the jury decided “one of the officers who testified during the trial was not trustworthy.” That testimony involved whether Troyer told the dispatcher that Altheimer threatened him and then admitted to the officer witness at the scene that he didn’t.
Troyer’s acquittal of the misdemeanor charges doesn’t mean the county won’t be liable if another jury finds Altheimer did nothing wrong and police actions were unreasonable. A criminal trial requires a higher level of proof, guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, and a good lawyer can sometimes sow enough doubt in the minds of jurors to get an acquittal.
A civil trial only requires a preponderance of evidence, meaning “more likely than not.” Also, while Troyer wouldn’t be criminally responsible for anything that jurors concluded the dispatcher did wrong, the county could be held liable for both Troyer’s and the dispatcher’s actions.