A juror who found former Beaverton, Ore., police Officer Christopher Warren guilty of child rape confessed under oath Thursday that he read snippets of a Columbian article during the defendant’s trial in Clark County Superior Court.
The juror, Craig Bowen, and 11 other jurors reached their unanimous verdict Oct. 31.
Bowen, who was Juror No. 6, said the article described a previous allegation that when Warren was 17, he sexually abused a minor who was younger than him.
He said the information in the article influenced his decision to vote for a guilty verdict.
“I questioned his character,” Bowen said. “Like I said, people’s actions speak louder than words.”
Information about previous allegations against Warren was not admissable at the weeklong trial because of concerns it would prejudice the jury.
Warren’s attorney, Louis Byrd Jr., said he plans to file a motion for a new trial.
Bowen initially came forward to report to the court and to The Columbian that his fellow jurors may have had outside knowledge about the case before reaching a verdict.
“I have reason to believe that some jurors selected for the trial of Chris Warren either had significant prior knowledge of the case or investigated the case during the trial, either of which would seem to be directly against the court’s wishes and instructions,” Bowen wrote in an email to The Columbian on Monday.
After some questioning Thursday, Bowen admitted that he, in fact, had read sections of news articles about the case during the trial while he was taking a lunch break at a coffee shop near the courthouse.
“I’ve got no excuse for that, your Honor,” he said to Judge Barbara Johnson.
But he maintained that other jurors also had outside information they only could have obtained through media reports.
He said that one of the jurors mentioned that Warren may be a police officer, which was information that was not presented at trial.
Presiding Juror John Bailey said that he had no knowledge of jury misconduct during the trial. He said some jurors surmised that Warren was a police officer because Warren’s ex-wife had mentioned during testimony that Warren wore a uniform for work. Then, another juror had said she remembered seeing news coverage about a year ago of a police officer accused of a similar crime. Bailey said the information did not influence his decision.
Byrd, Warren’s other attorney, Ernest Warren, Senior Deputy Prosecutor Camara Banfield and the judge were allowed to question Bowen, Bailey and one other juror during Thursday’s hearing. Ernest Warren said he is Christopher Warren’s first cousin once removed.
“What ends up being more troubling is the totality of what Mr. Bowen told us,” Johnson said Thursday.
Warren, 34, was taken into custody of the Clark County Jail minutes after the verdict was read Oct. 31. He had been free pending his trial. Warren has not yet been sentenced because the attorneys in the case are waiting for a court-ordered presentence investigation report.
The victim, who is now 6, took the stand during the trial and testified that Warren inserted a pencil in her genital area.
During closing arguments, Byrd said that Warren’s ex-wife, Dina Sanchez, coached the little girl into making the allegations because she was bitter over Warren’s decision to divorce her and to be with another woman.
