A juror was called by a Pasco murder victim’s relative. The defense says it was jury tampering

Attorneys for a double-murder suspect demanded a mistrial Friday after learning that an extended relative of one of the victims had phoned a juror.

A woman, only identified as “Juror No. 13,” told Judge Bruce Spanner about a call she received Thursday night from a longtime friend and former co-worker.

The friend said, “I hear you’re on the jury of the guy who killed my great-nephew’s wife’s grandma,” the juror recalled. “I said, ‘Stop talking!’ and she did.”

The juror is one of 14 people seated in the Franklin County Superior Court trial of Hector Orozco Jr. Two of the jurors are alternates.

Orozco, 43, is charged with seven crimes including two counts of murder for Demetrius A. Graves and Bonnie D. Ross last Valentine’s Day.

Orozco’s trial started Monday, with the first testimony on Thursday. It is expected to last two to three weeks.

Former co-worker call

The juror left a message with the Franklin County Clerk’s Office late Thursday to alert them to her friend’s phone call. She was brought into court Friday morning, without the rest of the jury, to talk about the conversation.

The juror said she has known the woman for 20 years and likely heard about the relative’s death when it happened a year ago.

“I think she mentioned it, that this person died, but I don’t remember any of the details of it,” she said. “The whole case, if I read about it in the newspaper, I don’t remember the particulars of it.”

Spanner asked if any of the testimony had refreshed her memory of the crime or a year-old conversation with her friend. The juror said it had not.

“Understanding that one of the (victims) here is a relative of a friend of yours, does that impact your ability to view the evidence, consider the evidence and be fair and impartial?”

The juror said it had no impact on her ability to continue serving.

Defense attorney Daniel Stovern asked if her friend said how she knew she was seated on the jury.

The woman said she had heard it from another friend. She added that people knew last Friday she had to call in for possible jury duty, and then followed up with her Tuesday to see if she was chosen.

About the call Thursday night, she told the judge she “never said anymore. We never said anymore after that. I said, ‘I can’t talk to you until after this trial is over.’ And she said, ‘OK.’”

The juror said she was mortified when her friend mentioned “the guy who killed,” even if she didn’t name Orozco.

“I thought ... oh my gosh, you’re putting me in a bad predicament,” she testified.

Defense calls it ‘horrible situation’

After the juror left the courtroom, Stovern argued that it’s a horrible situation, especially since the defense team believes that woman has been “more receptive to our case based on her mannerisms, than any other juror on the pool. That is the only juror we have discussed as being receptive to our (defense) case, and then an outside person who is a family member of one of the decedents has called to talk about it.”

Stovern said someone is tampering with the jury pool. He clarified that he didn’t think the friend was necessarily attempting to influence this juror, but said he doesn’t think the juror can still be impartial given her decades-long friendship with the woman.

“She knows it is a relative. She knows it is important to this person. This woman said specifically you are on the trial of the guy who killed my relative,” the lawyer said. “It’s very prejudicial.”

Stovern said he felt the only remedy was to declare a mistrial, instead of removing just one juror from the panel.

He said they don’t know if it was random that just one juror was selected, or if “some outside actor” is finding particular jurors to get them disqualified.

Prosecutor saw it differently

Prosecutor Shawn Sant said he must have heard her testimony “a little bit differently” and thought she was quite credible.

“I recognize that jurors, as well as members of the public, do not know the rules of the court and don’t call and talk (to people) if they are serving on a jury,” Sant said.

The prosecutor said he understands there might be a concern that the juror is friends with someone who is an “extremely distant relative” of Ross, but reminded the judge that the juror cut off the conversation with her friend before it could go further.

Sant added that there is no way to say if the woman “leans to the state or the defense.” All they know at this point is that she is an experienced juror, having previously been seated on another jury.

Spanner said he is certain the defense would have had that woman removed from the jury pool during selection if they had known she was friends with one of Ross’ relatives.

But what happened Thursday night is not grounds to remove her now from the panel or to grant the mistrial request, he said.

“I get that you have concerns, but it’s all based upon speculation,” said Spanner. “I don’t think she has any emotional investment in the case at all, otherwise I think she would have some recollection of what was said a year ago.”

The judge said the general public might not be aware that they aren’t to speak with jurors.

He said Juror No. 13 acted perfectly based on the instructions given to her by the court.

This story was originally published January 18, 2019 at 12:26 PM.