Fort Worth (1080 KRLD) - A former Fort Worth police officer has been sentenced to five years in prison for lying to a grand jury about his violent conduct at a part-time job.
Jon Romer was convicted of aggravated perjury in Dec. 2019 after he lied to a grand jury about punching a man while working a part-time job as a hospital security officer.
Henry Newson had been discharged from Texas Health Harris Hospital and was waiting for his mother to pick him up when he was confronted by Romer in 2016. Charges against Newson were later dropped.
Romer was recorded on body camera video punching Newson in the face then throwing him to the ground.
Investigators say Romer made up numerous statements about the incident, culminating with an appearance before a grand jury. It was investigating whether Newson’s civil rights had been violated and whether Romer had given false statements to the Tarrant County District Attorney’s office.
“You are given a warning when you come in, you are told you could be prosecuted for perjury, you know that it’s a serious matter just by virtue of the fact that there are subpoenas.” Said Russell Wilson, who was appointed special prosecutor. “It’s a very formal proceeding. That would have been, in essence, the dead-end for the lies that he had been telling. But they continued into the grand jury and that resulted in a more significant charge.”
Romer had faced a charge of official oppression in addition to the aggravated perjury charge. Just before trial, Romer’s defense attorney requested separate trials. The state chose to go to trial on the perjury charge, which was more serious, Wilson said.
Fort Worth fired Romer as a police officer after he was convicted.
Wilson says Romer, a white man, had been involved in the shooting of an unarmed black man years ago. However, a grand jury did not take action in the case, according to Wilson.
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