Uintah County Investigator Charged With Jury Tampering
An investigator for Uintah County has been charged with one count of Tampering With a Juror in Summit County’s 3rd District Court. 38-year-old Jayson L. Chamberlain was reportedly present at the Summit County Courthouse last December when potential jurors were being considered for the Flatlip, Flatlip, Rondeau trial that ended in mistrial. According to the charging documents, Chamberlain was present as an investigator for the prosecuting agency, the Uintah County Attorney’s Office, and was a potential witness for the State in the trial. On the day the tampering allegedly took place, there were approximately 60 prospective jurors on hand and they were questioned individually while the others remained in the courthouse lobby. “Throughout the day, the defendant made contact with many of the prospective jurors. Numerous prospective jurors described [Chamberlain] as being ‘chit-chatty’,” shares the charging documents. Charging documents include seven statements from prospective jurors who observed or had conversations with Chamberlain on that day; several of those alleging that Chamberlain talked about the jury process as well as his laptop and that it had very important information on it. One prospective juror told investigators that he overheard several of Chamberlain’s conversations with other prospective jurors in which Chamberlain gained knowledge that would be helpful for the prosecution during the jury selection process such as the jurors value system, family situation, and whether or not they wanted to serve on the jury and why. The charge of Tampering With a Juror was filed in 3rd District Court on July 17th. Chamberlain is scheduled for an initial court appearance on August 13th.