By NANCY WEST and DAMIEN FISHER, InDepthNH.org
The attorney representing the jurors who acquitted Volodomyr Zhukovskyy over whether their names should now be released to the Boston Globe said statements made by Gov. Chris Sununu and Attorney General John Formella after the not guilty verdicts were very upsetting to jurors.
Within minutes of the not guilty verdicts being announced last August, Sununu and Formella released public statements criticizing jurors for not convicting Zhukovskyy in the crash deaths of seven motorcyclist members of the Jarheads Motorcycle Club.
Sununu called the not guilty verdicts a “tragedy” and Formella said Zhukovskyy should have been convicted in the deaths of all seven after his truck collided with the motorcyclists on Route 2 in Randolph June 21, 2019.
Colebrook attorney Philip Waystack was asked by Judge Peter Bornstein to represent the jurors as a friend of the court in the Boston Globe’s petition to now obtain the names and addresses of the 12 jurors and five alternates.
“The facts and circumstances in this case do indeed raise legitimate concerns about not only juror safety but also about the integrity of the judicial system,” Waystack told the judge at a hearing Thursday in Coos Superior Court.
Waystack said he contacted the Zhukovskyy jurors and they were all adamant they didn’t want their names and addresses disclosed to the Boston Globe or any media.
Representing the Globe, Attorney William Chapman argued that juror names and addresses are a matter of public record under the New Hampshire Constitution, Part 1 article 8.
“Juror safety is completely addressed by jurors being able to request anonymity,” Chapman said. “That request would be honored as we indicated on our plea.”
“In terms of public confidence that really isn’t part of the test that is before the court.”
If anything, jurors having the opportunity to talk if they want to talk could restore public confidence, he argued.
Chapman said granting the Globe’s petition would not in any way undermine public confidence in the court.
“If anything it’s an opportunity to promote the public confidence,” Chapman said.
In his original petition, Chapman said: “If the Court provides the Boston Globe access to the jurors’ names, a Globe reporter would first respectfully approach jurors and ask if they are willing to be interviewed and, if so, whether they are willing to be named or want anonymity.
“If the latter, any article about the interview would state ‘a juror who spoke with the Globe’ or words to that effect to preserve the juror’s anonymity,” Chapman wrote.
The petition was filed Aug. 22, 2022.
“I think there’s a lot to be gained here,” Chapman said.
The state, through the Attorney General’s Office, did not take a position on the Globe’s petition.
Chapman said Globe reporters will not print the list but will use it to reach out to jurors to see if they want to speak.
Zhukovskyy has been held since the trial on an immigration detainer. Earlier this month, an immigration court ordered that he be deported to his native Ukraine, according to WMUR. Zhukovskyy has 30 days to appeal the order.
Waystack was previously not directly involved in the case, but was in the courtroom when the Zhukovskyy verdicts were read.
“I was surprised to see within moments after the jury verdict was rendered a woman stood up and looked from my perspective at the jury and said, ‘May you burn in hell.’”
That’s a reaction he had never seen before even during emotional homicide trials. “That tells me there was a severe amount of anger and that’s long before the public and others became aware of the governor’s statement and the attorney general’s.”
Waystack told the judge that after the verdicts he went home, turned on WMUR and saw Sununu speaking.
“I was frankly stunned by his comments and shortly after that it was Attorney General John Formella,” he said.
Waystack quoted both of their public statements.
Sununu’s statement: “The Fallen Seven did not receive justice today, and that is an absolute tragedy,” said Sununu. “I share in the shock, outrage, and anger that so many have expressed in the three years since the seven members of the Jarheads Motorcycle Club were taken from us. My heart goes out to their families, friends, and loved ones on this especially dark day.”
Formella said: “Our hearts go out to the victims and their families. Our trial team did an excellent job and we firmly believe that the State proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt,” said Formella. “Mr. Zhukovskyy should have been found guilty of the charges in this case and held responsible for causing seven deaths and numerous injuries. We thank the Court and the jurors for their service, and while we are extremely disappointed, we respect the verdict and our system of justice.”
Spokesmen for Sununu and Formella didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
“I thought it was very harmful,” Waystack said. “The governor’s a political figure. He can use his bully pulpit to talk about whatever he wants but the attorney general. He is the chief law enforcement officer of this state.
“Once those two individuals made those statements they reverberated quickly loudly and repeatedly…,” Waystack said.
Waystack said one woman juror told him of a stranger in Manchester asking her if she had heard the governor’s remarks.
“I was very irritated by what the governor said and I was not about to discuss it,” the woman juror told Waystack.
Sununu’s and Formella’s comments amounted to misinformation, he said.
“..(A)nd it put the jurors unnecessarily and needlessly at risk,” Waystack said.
Another juror told Waystack after the verdicts he carried a gun for some time. “I was afraid for my safety,” the juror told Waystack.
“The confidence of the public has been seriously undermined in this case by the misinformation that has been spread by the people who should know better and has reverberated through the Internet, electronic media, media and word of mouth,” Waystack said.
The jury found Zhukovskyy not guilty on seven counts of manslaughter by reckless conduct, seven counts of negligent homicide, and one count of reckless conduct with a deadly weapon. An additional eight charges had already been dismissed part way through the trial after the defense team argued the state did not have enough evidence to support the charges.
Zhukovskyy, 27, a truck driver from Springfield, Mass., admitted to police he had used heroin on the day of the crash. He reportedly lost control of his tractor trailer on Route 2 near Gorham when he plowed into several members of the Jarheads Motorcycle Club coming in the opposite direction.
At trial, facts were presented that while Zhukovskyy had used drugs eight hours before the crash, he was not intoxicated at the time of the accident. Instead, the lead rider for the Jarheads, Albert “Woody” Mazza, who died in the crash, was found to be intoxicated with a .135 blood alcohol content percentage. Other Jarheads were also found to be intoxicated at the time of the crash. The defense suggested Mazza led the Jarheads on a dangerous ride, and that he crossed the centerline and hit Zhukovskyy’s truck, causing the accident.
Along with Mazza, the crash killed Michael Ferazzi, 62, of Contoocook, Desma Oakes, 42, of Concord, Aaron Perry, 45, of Farmington, Daniel Pereira, 58, of Riverside, Rhode Island, Jo-Ann and Edward Corr, both 58, of Lakeville, Mass.
Judge Bornstein has taken the Globe petition matter under advisement.