6 jurors swear a cop's wife swayed panel in Kent civil rights case

Several jurors who exonerated a Kent police officer in a civil-rights case have now filed sworn declarations saying deliberations in the case were influenced by another juror — the wife of a cop — who they say dominated the panel and repeatedly brought her husband's experiences into the deliberations.

Six of the 12 jurors have signed declarations, which the attorneys for Nicomedes Tubar hope will persuade U.S. District Judge John Coughenour to throw out a verdict in favor of Kent Officer Jason Clift after a two-week trial this spring. Tubar is seeking a new trial.

After the jury ruled last month that Clift did not violate Tubar's civil rights after shooting him in June 2003, Coughenour expressed "serious reservations" about the verdict in light of the evidence presented in court, which showed that the officer fired three shots into a moving car in a darkened parking lot. The third shot struck and seriously wounded Tubar, who was a passenger in a car which he did not know was stolen, according to the evidence.

The officer said the car was trying to run him down.

Tubar's lawsuit hinged on evidence that the third shot — the one that struck him — was fired after the car had passed Clift and was no longer a threat. The Kent Police Department cleared him of any wrongdoing.

Tubar was asking for at least $1 million in compensatory and punitive damages.

Shortly after the verdict, a juror approached Tubar's attorney and complained that one of the jurors, whose husband was a police officer, talked about her husband's experience despite jury instructions saying the case had to be decided solely on the evidence presented during trial. Coughenour agreed to let the attorneys talk to other jurors in light of the one juror's complaint.

All six of the jurors whose declarations were filed Thursday say the woman discussed her husband's training and experiences in trying to convince the panel that Clift was not liable for Tubar's injuries. One juror said the woman told them that her husband "would have done the same thing."

"Even after the other jurors told her to rely solely on the evidence in the courtroom, she continued to make statements," including that Tubar should have known the car was stolen, one of the jurors stated.

How the officer's wife made it on to the panel was not clear. Both sides' proposed jury questions included asking if prospective jurors knew or were related to anyone in law enforcement.

Several of the jurors also noticed several uniformed police officers in the courtroom as spectators.

"I felt that the police officers were staring at the jury and found it intimidating," one juror said. "I also heard a juror comment that she noticed officers staring at the jury box."

Several days into the trial, the judge ordered officers attending the trial as spectators to wear street clothes.

Mike Carter: 206-464-3706 or mcarter@seattletimes.com