Jurors Continue to Deliberate in Trial of Three Former Deputies

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Deliberations continued on Monday, October 25 in the trial of three former Washington County Sheriff’s Deputies charged in the 2017 in-custody death of 58-year-old Eurie Lee Martin.

Just before 2 p.m. on Monday, a bailiff provided Senior Superior Court Judge H. Gibbs Flanders, Jr. with a note from the 12-jurors, indicating that the group could not reach a unanimous decision concerning the three former deputies, identified as Henry Lee Copeland, Michael Howell, and Rhett Scott.

After reading the note, Judge Flanders explained that the 12-jurors began deliberations on Friday, October 22 at approximately 11 a.m.; jurors took a lunch break, and continued to deliberate until around 5 p.m. on Friday. The jurors returned to court on Monday, October 25 where they continued deliberations shortly after 9 a.m.

“They’ve been in discussions all morning, and now – about an hour in the afternoon – it’s just not that long of a time for the Court to make a decision to declare a mistrial in this case,” said Judge Flanders, adding that an Allen Charge would be appropriate.

An Allen Charge is defined as set of instructions given to a jury when, after deliberation, it is unable to decide on a verdict. The purpose of the instruction is to encourage jurors to re-examine their opinions and attempt to reach a unanimous verdict if possible.

“I think it may be helpful to give them this charge because it does remind the jurors of the lengthy trial that they’ve been engaged in, and that while the deliberations may seem long to them, within the overall context of this case, they really are not,” said Judge Flanders.

Jurors did not reach a final verdict on Monday. The court opted to recess at 5 p.m. Deliberation is set to resume on Tuesday, October 26 at 9 a.m.

The jury deliberations are following a lengthy trial where the prosecution presented evidence including more than 20 witnesses before resting on Monday, October 18. The defense presented two days of evidence including testimony from two of the three defendants, Michael Howell and Rhett Scott, before resting just before lunch on Thursday, October 20.

Closing arguments took place on Thursday, October 20.

As previously reported by WACO 100, 58-year-old Eurie Lee Martin’s life was ended on July 7, 2017 after an encounter with the three Washington County Deputies, identified as Henry Lee Copeland, Michael Howell, and Rhett Scott.

All three deputies were immediately placed on administrative leave pending a GBI investigation following Martin’s death. At a news conference held in October of 2017, the late Washington County Sheriff Thomas H. Smith announced that he had terminated all three deputies after meeting with the District Attorney concerning the GBI’s investigation.

The three former deputies were first indicted by the Washington County Grand Jury on Tuesday, December 19, 2017. Those indictments from 2017 were dismissed after the Defense attorneys for Copeland, Howell, and Scott filed a motion to quash, citing the absence of a court reporter during the December 19, 2017 grand jury proceedings.

Senior Superior Court Judge H. Gibbs Flanders, Jr. ruled that a court reporter was required during grand jury proceedings in order to “take down and transcribe the testimony of any witness appearing before the grand jury and any legal advice provided to the grand jury by the prosecuting attorney.”

In 2018, a second Washington County Grand Jury indicted the three former deputies on the same eight counts, including: two counts felony murder, two counts of involuntary of manslaughter, one count of false imprisonment, one count of aggravated assault, one count of simple assault, and one count of reckless conduct.