Lawyers for a former downstate cop convicted of murdering an unarmed Black woman in her Springfield-area home last year are seeking a new trial, alleging that errors by the judge swung the case against their client.
A jury in Peoria convicted Sean Grayson, 31, of one count of second-degree murder after he fatally shot Sonya Massey, 36, in the face while responding to her 911 call about a potential prowler outside her home.
In their first public response to that verdict, Grayson’s lawyers argue Sangamon County Circuit Judge Ryan Cadagin erred when allowing the jury to hear disparaging remarks the then-Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy made after he shot Massey.
In body-worn camera footage of that night, Grayson can be heard discouraging his partner from administering first aid to Massey after she was shot, saying, “It’s a head shot dude. She’s done.” Later, when Grayson is telling other officers what happened, he can be heard calling Massey a “b****” and “f***ing crazy.”
Defense attorneys Daniel Fultz and Mark Wykoff say playing these moments from the body-camera footage in court “improperly inflamed the passions of the jury — which was substantially prejudicial to the defendant.”
“The events occurring after an officer’s decision to use force have no bearing on whether that use of force was reasonable or justified,” their newly-filed motion reads. “What matters is the events leading up to the use of force and the moment the force was used.”
Fultz and Wykoff also argued the court should have allowed Grayson to present evidence of Massey’s “propensity for violence.”
In their filing, the lawyers described an incident that allegedly occurred 24 hours before Massey was shot, when a neighbor called the police and told them that Massey had hit her with a brick. The judge denied admitting that detail during the trial, saying it was “not reliable.” The defense team, however, said the evidence could have “swung the verdict in the defendant’s favor.”
Prosecutors had sought to convict Grayson, who is white, on three counts of first-degree murder. But the nine-women, three-men jury opted instead to convict on the lesser charge of second-degree murder.
In a statement, Sangamon County State’s Attorney John Milhiser said Tuesday that the defense team’s motion for a new trial is “standard practice” and offered no persuasive arguments to warrant a retrial.
“We do not believe there is any merit to the defendant’s assertions in his motion and will file our written response,” Milhiser said.
Fultz and Wykoff declined comment.
Grayson’s sentencing hearing is Jan. 29. He could face up to 20 years in prison.