TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — Prosecutors and defense lawyers made their closing arguments Tuesday in the criminal trial of Washington county sheriff, and a jury began deliberating on Wednesday.
Closing arguments painted Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer as a “great man” wrongfully accused, and conversely, as a liar whose false claims of death threats “weaponized” a massive police response against a Black newspaper carrier, The Seattle Times reported.
A six-member Pierce County District Court jury is deliberating on whether or not to convict Troyer on false-reporting charges stemming from the 2021 confrontation with Sedrick Altheimer.
Troyer, who is white and has worked for the sheriff’s office for decades in Washington’s second-most populous county, has pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges of false reporting and making a false or misleading report to a public servant.
Throughout his trial, his defense team argued he's the victim of an anti-police political prosecution and emphasized his long career, family and charity work.
In her closing argument Tuesday, Assistant Attorney General Melanie Tratnik, lead prosecutor in the case, urged jurors to look at the evidence.
Tratnik emphasized Troyer’s call to an emergency dispatcher at around 2 a.m. on Jan. 27, 2021, during which he said four times that Altheimer was threatening to kill him — only to retract that claim when questioned by Tacoma police, according to an incident report and police trial testimony.
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