Former Jefferson sheriff asks for acquittal, new trial

The former Jefferson County sheriff asked for an acquittal and a new trial. Judge Greg Moeller denied both motions after hearing the arguments for nearly three hours.

Blair Olsen was found guilty in May on misusing public funds for allowing his wife to use a county cell phone.

Before the rulings, Olsen’s defense claimed the charges were unconstitutional saying the court lacks subject jurisdiction for the crime. They also said it’s up to the county commissioners to authorize the payment for the cell phone and that if commissioners thought it wasn’t beneficial for the county. they could have disallowed the payment and required Olsen to pay it back.

The prosecution argued that the constitution issue should have been brought up well before this point, asking why didn’t this happen at the motion-to-dismiss indictment hearing.

The prosecution agreed this could be a first impression to the court regarding the constitutionality of the statute.

The hearing lasted about 3 hours before the judge recessed for 15 minutes before announcing his ruling.

The judge also addressed the affidavits claiming a juror was sleeping during the trial. Reporter Chelsea Brentzel will tell us more about that tonight on Local News 8 at 5 p.m. and on KIDK Eyewitness News at 5:30 p.m.

Olsen is scheduled to be sentenced on Monday.