ACLU of Michigan issued the following announcement.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan (ACLU) is calling for an investigation into a jury tampering incident involving a Grand Rapids Police Department (GRPD) detective and a sitting juror who texted each other during deliberations in a criminal trial, according to the detective’s court testimony. The ACLU sent a letter, with the corresponding testimony transcript, to the Grand Rapids Office of Oversight and Public Accountability and the Michigan Department of Civil Rights urging an investigation to determine whether appropriate discipline if any was imposed and to develop policy and officer training to ensure similar incidents do not happen again.
This jury tampering occurred on Dec. 4, 2019 after a jury had begun deliberations in a criminal case in the 17th Circuit Court. GRPD Detective Robert James Zabriskie and a sitting juror texted about another juror who apparently did not want to vote guilty during deliberations. According to court testimony, Det. Zabriskie texted the juror that “we need good people to show up and say they don’t have a preconceived notions about guilt or innocence, and then, find the defendant guilty. Duh.”
“It is a serious threat to our legal system for an active member of law enforcement to directly communicate with a sitting juror about a case, let alone during deliberations,” said Elaine Lewis, ACLU of Michigan attorney. “There is no excuse for this abuse of power and lack of respect for the sworn oath of a juror whose duties and deliberation are sacrosanct.”
The trial impacted by this jury tampering incident involved an accusation of drug possession with intent to distribute. According to the defense attorney the case is expected to be retried. The jury was majority white with one Black juror.
The court testimony shows that Det. Zabriskie also introduced race into the texting exchange. When the sitting juror commented about the dissenting juror being “obnoxious” and emotional, Det. Zabriskie texted, “is this a black lady?” Upon learning the dissenting juror was Black, he went further to advocate that the dissenting juror be expelled.
“A police detective pushing for the expulsion of a Black juror on the basis of their race is discrimination, it’s dangerous, and it’s wrong,” said Anthony Greene, an ACLU of Michigan cooperating attorney who co-authored the letter. “Not only is a police detective texting a sitting juror a threat to the criminal legal system as a whole, it is extremely worrisome that this detective was not investigated and continues to work within the community as if nothing happened.”
To the ACLU’s knowledge, Det. Zabriskie was not disciplined in any way. He has been with the GRPD for more than 24 years and also serves as an instructor. The ACLU asks both the Michigan Department of Civil Rights and the Grand Rapids Office of Oversight and Public Accountability to investigate this incident and recommend further actions including appropriate discipline for the detective, necessary policy and procedure changes, and training for the GRPD to prevent similar incidents from happening again.
Original source can be found here.
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