Two More Cases Where Wikipedia Is Source Sought by Disobedient Jurors, Causing Vacated Convictions; Foreperson Held in Contempt

An alert bailiff discovered in a jury deliberation room printed information from Wikipedia obtained by the jury foreman and shared with fellow jurors.  A new trial has been granted to the convicted defendant.
Here is the link:

http://hosted2.ap.org/CARIE/7f780b0f92634e54be4b48f9179deaa4/Article_2012-04-21-Juror%20Misconduct-Mistrial/id-dafa76e0eeb9401092971dc302955068

The judge noted that the definitions obtained by the foreman were not accurate, that the foreman exhibited no malice, and was simply trying to be helpful.  This is consistent with other juror misconduct cases where the miscreants claim to just want to do a good job and had not been provided the necessary information by the judges and lawyers.

The history of Wikipedia as, in essence, a dictionary, and an unreliable source for legal terms is recounted in a federal appeals decision (46 pages) with convictions vacated:

http://pacer.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinion.pdf/104831.P.pdf

Finally, a foreperson who conducted independent research in violation of the judge's admonitions was found in contempt and fined $500.  Link:  http://www.ediscoverylawalert.com/uploads/file/In-the-Matter-of-Daniel-M_-Kaminsky.pdf

Photographer's Goof Results in Mistrial

Not misconduct of a juror, but a photographer's error in publishing a juror's photo results in a mistrial:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/11/reporter-photo-austin-tabor-case-mistrial-declared-ann-marie-bush_n_1418723.html

AND another case of juror's photos, this time on a Facebook page:

http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2012/04/baby_kate_trial_day_began_with.html

Another reason to ban cameras in the courtroom!

Colorado Juror "Facebooking" During Trial is Discharged

Here we go again!  It's nearly a weekly (certainly a biweekly) event that a juror somewhere is discharged for violating the judge's admonition against using social media to discuss the case.  Link below is to a child sex abuse case in Colorado::

Link:  http://www.krdo.com/news/30785653/detail.html?hpt=ju_bn6