‘The other jurors are yelling at me.’ Juror dismissed from police shooting trial

A federal judge in Seattle has dismissed one of eight jurors after she refused to deliberate in the civil-rights trial over the death of Leonard Thomas, who a SWAT team sniper shot in front of his 4-year-old son in 2013.

The ruling leaves seven jurors who must unanimously decide whether police violated the rights of 30-year-old Thomas when they killed him after a four-hour standoff at his Fife home.

The family is asking for as much as $18 million in damages, including up to $5 million from now-Lakewood Police Chief Michael Zaro, who was the tactical commander of the multiagency Pierce County Metro SWAT team that night.

Deliberations in U.S. District Court began late Monday and quickly reached an impasse, according to the court docket. Late Tuesday, jurors sent at least two questions to U.S. District Judge Barbara Rothstein asking what they should do if they were deadlocked.

Wednesday morning, the judge responded by ordering them to continue their deliberations.

“Less than an hour later, one juror sent a note to the Court asserting an unwillingness to deliberate, stating ‘the other jurors are yelling at me, saying I’ve broken my oath,’ ” wrote attorney Jack Connelly, who represents Thomas’ estate.

“My mind is made up. I will not change it. Please, please let me go,” the juror wrote, according to the motion.

The attorneys representing the defendants agreed that the juror should be released from service.

The SWAT team used explosives to blast its way into Thomas’ house. The explosion happened even as negotiators said Thomas — who was bipolar, off his medication and intoxicated — was preparing to surrender his son to the child’s grandmother.

The family says the assault was unnecessary and reckless, and that Thomas lunged for the boy out of paternal instinct when he heard the blast.

The officers said they were convinced he was attacking the child and the officer fired to defend the boy from his father.

This story was originally published July 12, 2017 at 3:38 PM with the headline "‘The other jurors are yelling at me.’ Juror dismissed from police shooting trial."