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Judge declares mistrial in Karen Swift Trial; David Swift to be retried on charges of voluntary manslaughter
RACHEL TOWNSEND
UPDATE
After roughly 11 hours of deliberation, the court declared a mistrial in the case of the State of Tennessee vs. David Swift. The jury was hung on charges of voluntary manslaughter and could not reach a verdict. Swift was found not guilty of charges including 1st-degree and 2nd-degree murder, and 1st and 2nd-degree attempted murder.
Judge Mark Hayes declared a mistrial.
Following adjournment, statements regarding the day’s court proceedings were issued by District Attorney Danny Goodman and defense attorney Daniel Taylor.
The morning began with Judge Hayes calling one juror into the court after they admitted to conducting a personal search of the legal term “reasonable doubt”. The juror informed one of the court officers of the search which was then reported to Judge Hayes. The judge explained to the juror that no more searches could be conducted. He also instructed the juror on the correct meaning of “reasonable doubt”.
Shortly before noon, Judge Hayes called the jury into court for an update on progress where they informed him they were hung and had not reached a unanimous conclusion. The jury then retired for further deliberation. Just after 1 p.m., Judge Haynes called the jury back into court for another update. This time, the jury said they were unable to agree on charges of voluntary manslaughter. They informed Judge Hayes there was no hope they would come to a common agreement.
Swift will now appear in Dyer County Circuit Court on July 2, at 9 a.m. for a hearing regarding his bond and future action. He must also answer for stalking charges pending in Alabama. The length of sentencing for voluntary manslaughter is 3-15 years. If found guilty during the retrial, Swift could walk free after serving 1-2 years. Goodman was very clear in stating that a plea bargain would only be offered in exchange for details surrounding the murder.
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Day 7
At approximately 9:53 a.m., Wednesday, June 5, the jury in the Karen Swift Trial retired for deliberation.
The day began with closing arguments from Assistant District Attorney Tim Boxx and defense attorney Daniel Taylor.
Proceedings have been ongoing since May 28, with the State receiving testimony from 36 witnesses before resting on Monday, June 3. Seven witnesses have been called upon by David Swift’s defense team. Nearly 50 artifacts have been submitted as exhibits throughout the trial.
In Boxx’s closing argument, he portrayed Swift as a jealous and controlling husband who premeditated the murder of his wife, the late Karen Swift. Boxx says the premeditation dates back to October 25, when David Swift first re-injured his leg. Boxx portrayed the leg injury as a calculated action David Swift used to convince the public that he was not physically capable of murdering his wife.
Boxx further alleged that Swift had likely strangled his wife before inflicting a blow to her head that caused a complex fracture, resulting in death.
Earlier testimony in the trial from medical examiner Marco Ross indicated the exact cause of death could not be determined due to the level of body decomposition. Ross testified that the complex fracture Karen Swift sustained to the skull was the most probable cause of death based on the evidence available.
Boxx then stated that Swift dragged and dumped Karen Swift’s body to Bledsoe Cemetery before going back to the Swift residence and manually inserting the screw into her tire.
Miscalculating the deflation rate of the tire, Swift was forced to manually deflate the tire of Swift’s SUV, which he then drove to Millsfield Highway to make it appear as if Karen Swift had a blowout while driving.
Boxx noted in his closing argument that the 1/4-mile walk from Karen Swift’s abandoned SUV back to the Swift residence would likely take Swift 5 minutes at a leisurely pace.
(In an earlier conversation with District Attorney Danny Goodman, he noted the actual distance between the SUV and the Swift home was closer to .40 miles.)
Boxx then argued that Swift destroyed and dumped two cellular devices belonging to Karen Swift. Boxx noted that the last time Karen Swift’s Voyager phone was accessed was at 9:55 a.m. on the day she went missing.
He said the logs only indicate the source to be a network connector. He stated his belief that the voicemail call was made by David Swift shortly before destroying and dumping the phones.
In closing arguments from the Defense, Taylor portrayed Karen Swift as a woman living a risky lifestyle. He stated that the evidence presented did not support David Swift as the person responsible for the murder nor did it eliminate reasonable doubt.
Taylor reminded the jury that no blood was recovered from the home that was determined to be of human origin. He also reminded the jury of testimonies from Dustin and Ashley Swift stating the home, specifically the master bedroom where Karen and Ashley Swift slept, appeared to be in its normal condition with no signs of apparent struggle.