Prosecutors and defense lawyers made their closing arguments Tuesday in the criminal trial of Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer, clashing over whether he’s a “great man” wrongfully accused, or a liar whose false claims of death threats “weaponized” a massive police response against a Black newspaper carrier.
A six-member Pierce County District Court jury will begin deliberations Wednesday, deciding whether or not to convict Troyer on false-reporting charges stemming from his confrontation last January with newspaper delivery driver Sedrick Altheimer.
Troyer, who is white, 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 has argued he is the victim of an anti-police political prosecution and emphasized his long career, his family and charity work.
In her closing argument Tuesday, Assistant Attorney General Melanie Tratnik, the lead prosecutor in the case, urged jurors to look past the defense effort to lean on Troyer’s reputation, and look at the evidence.
Tratnik pointed to Troyer’s call to an emergency dispatcher at around 2 a.m. on Jan. 27, 2021, during which he stated 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 testimony at the trial.
“That statement was a lie. And not just any lie, but a lie that caused over 40 law enforcement officers to rush to the scene to protect Sheriff Troyer,” Tratnik said. “This lie wasted the shared law enforcement resources of Pierce County, and it terrorized a newspaper delivery man who was just trying to earn a living.”
Anne Bremner, Troyer’s lead defense attorney, responded in her closing arguments that the sheriff and his family had endured a “horrible ordeal” because of the prosecution.
“We just heard from the state that he somehow allegedly wasted resources. I’d submit to you that this trial is a waste of resources. Huge waste of resources. Because he didn’t do anything wrong. He didn’t commit any crime,” Bremner said.
The prosecution and defense offered the jury competing theories of whether Troyer lied about his encounter with Altheimer, whom he followed in his personal, unmarked SUV in his Tacoma neighborhood, leading to a standoff in which Troyer called in his death-threat claims to South Sound 911.
Tratnik told the jury it made no sense for Altheimer to have threatened Troyer.
“I submit to you that it simply makes no sense for Mr. Alzheimer to interrupt his newspaper route and threaten to kill someone, anyone, let alone someone he suspects might be a police officer, someone who … carries a gun and could arrest or even shoot him,” Tratnik said.
She said Troyer was “never threatened” but called in the police during his encounter with Altheimer because he “was disrespected.”
“Sheriff Troyer weaponized the police force to settle a personal petty score with a man who didn’t treat him with the deference and the respect that he felt he deserved,” Tratnik argued, pointing to the sheriff’s sometimes conflicting statements on what happened that night.
Bremner countered in her closing argument that Troyer, a law enforcement veteran of nearly four decades, had no reason to make a false report — and that it was Altheimer who couldn’t be believed, citing a $5 million civil lawsuit he has filed over the incident.
“Why would Sheriff Troyer make this up?” she said. “For what purpose on God’s green earth would he do that? There is absolutely no reason he would ever do that.”
Bremner pointed to Altheimer’s visible outrage that night after police arrived, some with guns drawn, to check out Troyer’s emergency call. “I mean he’s very agitated. He’s dropping F-bombs. He’s very upset and very angry. And that corroborates the way he acted with the sheriff,” she said.
While Altheimer was caught on police body-camera video, Troyer’s statements to Tacoma police that night were not recorded, with Tacoma Office Chad Lawless saying he left his camera at a police station in his haste to respond to the “officer needs help call” trigged by Troyer.
While attacking the state’s evidence against Troyer as weak, Bremner also leaned heavily into the sheriff’s reputation, contending he’s an upstanding citizen who couldn’t have committed a crime, yet was enduring a “Kafka-esque” trial.
“He’s a great man, who deserves — not this for sure,” she said, calling the state’s prosecution “wrongful” and devastating to his family.
Bremner appeared to get choked up at the end of her closing argument, pleading with the jury to reject the charges. “He’s not guilty,” she said. “He’s a good man. And I ask you to find him not guilty and free him from all of this.”
Responding in a final rebuttal, Tratnik urged jurors to reject deciding the case based on moral judgments about the parties involved.
“This isn’t about a good guy and a bad guy,” Tratnik said. “It’s not about what either party has done with their life or all of the good things that Sheriff Troyer has done, which they have repeatedly brought in front of you as a shield.”
“The only thing you are here to determine is what happened that night,” she said. “Did Sheriff Troyer lie when he said that Mr. Altheimer had threatened to kill him?”
After the closing arguments wrapped up Tuesday afternoon, Judge Jeffrey Jahns said the jury would begin deliberations in the morning, and ordered them not to discuss the case with anyone.
