SPOKANE, Wash. - Nine months after a jury convicted former Spokane Police officer Karl Thompson for using excessive force, a federal judge is just now unsealing secret documents about allegations of jury misconduct as it related to Thompson's trial.
Thompson was supposed to be sentenced in January, but that never happened. Nine months after his conviction he remains at his home in Kootenai County..
Federal Magistrate judge Fred VanSickle gave the go-ahead to un-seal documents in Karl Thompson's case as it related to allegations of jury misconduct during his federal trial.
After Thompson was convicted in November, the defense alleged jurors may have seen a news report about the Thompson case during the trial.
The jury fore-woman denied those claims and the prosecution said there was no evidence to support the accusations. However, the judge felt the claims merited further investigation.
All interviews of jurors and proceedings to investigate the misconduct were all held in private.
On Thursday, the judge agreed to unseal documents from those private meetings after an attorney representing KHQ and the Spokesman-Review filed a motion to intervene to see the documents.
Personal information have to be redacted, but otherwise the documents could be available as soon as Friday.
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