A judge declared a mistrial Wednesday night in the assault case against the Franklin County sheriff after the jury was unable to reach a verdict.
The jury spent more than five hours deliberating whether Sheriff John Grismore committed simple assault when he kicked a handcuffed and shackled man in August 2022, according to video of the incident. Grismore, who was a deputy sheriff at the time, was fired from the department after the incident, but he was elected sheriff later that year.
The jury told Judge Samuel Hoar that they were unable to reach a unanimous decision.
“Are you convinced that there is no amount of further deliberation that will allow you to break through whatever impasse is preventing you from reaching a unanimous verdict?” Hoar said, around 11:10 p.m.
The lead juror told Hoar that they were “convinced” they wouldn’t be able to reach a verdict, and several members of the jury nodded their heads in agreement.
After the jury left the courtroom, Hoar said he’d look to set the case for another trial sometime in the fall.
The criminal case, which was filed by the Grand Isle County state’s attorney to avoid a conflict of interest, stems from an August 2022 incident where the Franklin County Sheriff's Office got a call that Jeremy Burrows was drunk and disruptive at his mother’s house in St. Albans town.
When Franklin County Sheriff Deputies Christopher Major and Karry Andileigh arrived at the scene, they said Burrows vacillated between being calm and aggressive. The deputies said Burrows tried to punch Major and spat on him. The deputies subdued Burrows, handcuffed him and brought him back to the sheriff’s department, where Burrows was handcuffed and shackled to a bench.
At one point Burrows tried to stand up and he fell on his face, body camera video shows. Major and Andileigh helped him back on his feet, but Burrows wouldn’t sit back down.
Grismore, who wasn’t on duty that day and had come in to do paperwork, entered the processing room, kicked Burrows back onto the bench and then held his foot on Burrows’ midsection, the video shows. Burrows got back up and Grismore kicked him again in the midsection, according to video of the incident.
After the second kick, Grismore put a spit hood over Burrows' head and told Burrows that “you just tried spitting at me.”
“I didn’t spit at him,” Burrows said, according to the video.
The prosecution called six witnesses during the trial, including the two deputy sheriffs who were in the room when Grismore kicked Burrows. During the trial, both deputies testified that they believed Grismore’s kicks were unnecessary.
“I felt like it was aggressive,” said Andileigh, one of the deputies in the room during the incident. “I was uncomfortable with the use of force that took place.”
Burrows also testified during the trial. He said he’d gotten drunk that day while fishing and that his memory of the day was hazy, but he said he did remember getting kicked.
“If you get kicked in the privates … it’s a hurtful spot,” Burrows said.
Burrows said he didn’t realize until he saw the video that Grismore was a law enforcement officer, because during the incident Grismore wasn’t in uniform. Burrows also told the jury he was a recovering alcohol and drug addict and has been sober now for about a year and a half.
Grismore, who took the stand during the trial, has repeatedly said that he was acting in self-defense because he believed that Burrows was about to spit on him. Spitting on a law enforcement officer is a criminal offense in Vermont. Grismore has also said he intervened because he thought the two deputies were inexperienced and losing control of the situation.
Grismore’s attorney, Robert Kaplan, argued during the trial that the kicks — which he described as foot pushes — were interventions needed to restore order.
“Police officers need to know that they are not going to be prosecuted for ministerial acts that they are doing to keep people safe,” Kaplan said during closing arguments.
Grismore has previously said he won’t step down if he’s convicted. Sheriffs, as elected officials, can only be removed from office through impeachment, a process that’s rarely used in Vermont. Lawmakers dropped their attempt to impeach Grismore earlier this year because the alleged misconduct occurred before he took office.
Grismore has been sanctioned by the state committee that regulates law enforcement credentials. The Vermont Criminal Justice Council permanently stripped Grismore of his law enforcement certification after determining that he violated the state’s use of force policy and used excessive force when he kicked Burrows. Without law enforcement credentials, Grismore can’t perform standard police work like going on patrols or investigating crimes, but he can still perform administrative duties.
The Vermont Sheriffs’ Association called on Grismore to resign after the council’s ruling, but Grismore refused.
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