Former Jackson County Sheriff Zachary Wester is on trial against the state for planting drugs while searching people's cars during traffic stops. He’s facing charges of racketeering, official misconduct, fabricating evidence as well as perjury. He’s facing more than 70 charges. The state spent four days proving its case to the jury, while the defense just spent one. WFSU’s Gina Jordan talks with Blaise Gainey about what’s taken place.
8:30 a.m. | Zachary Wester s father, Robert Wester, may testify
MARIANNA State prosecutors could wrap their case today well ahead of schedule in the trial of former deputy Zachary Wester on charges that he planted drugs on unsuspecting motorists during traffic stops.
On the fourth day of trial, the state is expected to call Wester’s father, Robert Wester, who spent more than two decades at the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office. His son worked as a patrol deputy for the department from May 2016 until his termination amid drug-planting allegations in September 2018.
The elder Wester claimed in a pretrial deposition that his son was framed by prosecutors for the 14 Judicial Circuit in Marianna. Prosecutors for the neighboring 1st Judicial Circuit took over the Wester case.
It was the fourth day of the trial of Wester, charged with a multitude of offenses for allegedly planting drugs and paraphernalia in the vehicles of innocent motorists. He was arrested in July 2019 after a lengthy FDLE investigation.
Much of the testimony focused on Wester’s patrol vehicle and the unmarked contraband found in the trunk and elsewhere, including containers with methamphetamine and marijuana, a syringe and other items.
Wester’s defense lawyer, Ryan Davis, has suggested through questioning that the vehicle, which was stored in a Sheriff’s Office helicopter bay, was not properly secured for more than a month after it was impounded.
Eight of Wester’s alleged victims testified on Monday and Tuesday, and several more took the stand Wednesday, including a woman who said cigarettes and Dr Pepper were her only vices when she was arrested on a meth charge.
Kimberly Hazelwood testified that she and her husband, Jeremy Hazelwood, and their young children had just moved to Marianna when Wester pulled over their white van in June 2018. Wester searched the van after another deputy’s K-9 unit signaled around the front passenger seat and found an Excedrin bottle with meth inside.
Prosecutors played Wester’s body camera footage of the stop, including an emotional Hazelwood trying to explain that they didn’t have any drugs in the van.
View Comments
Zachary Wester, the former deputy on trial for planting meth on drivers during traffic stops, grew up in a law enforcement family in the small town of Sneads, located just south of Lake Seminole in eastern Jackson County.
Here’s what’s known about Wester:
Where did Zachary Wester go to school?
Wester, 28, attended Sneads High School, where he was active in Future Farmers of America and made the dean’s list. He graduated in 2010.
What did he do after graduation?
He worked at Verizon Wireless stores in Marianna and Tallahassee. He also sold cars at a Nissan dealership in Marianna.