Missing Juror Ordered to Carry Sign Outside Courthouse: "I Failed to Appear for Jury Duty"

A prospective juror who failed to return for jury selection after a lunch break was given a interesting consequence by the presiding judge:

http://posttrib.suntimes.com/news/lake/10187894-418/potential-juror-who-left-before-trial-to-be-punished.html

Why Do Tech-Obsessed Jurors Disobey Judge's Instructions?

A great article in the February 2012 issue of the Rotarian magazine is entitled "Tech savants: Five things you need to know about the gadget generation," authored by Patty Lamberti, a professor at Loyola University Chicago. (LINK is below)  The five things are:

1.  They are blind to technology etiquette.

2. Multitasking is hurting their brains.

3. They dislike conversing face to face.

4. Their only news comes from Facebook.

5.  Life without technology leaves them depressed and anxious.

Numbers one and five as she expands on them in the article explains a lot about misconduct by younger jurors.

http://www.rotary.org/en/MediaAndNews/TheRotarian/Pages/Education1202.aspx

Juror "Friends" Defendant on Facebook and is Dismissed

A Florida man was dismissed from a jury in a personal injury trial for "friending" an attractive defendant on Facebook.  He thought going on Facebook to "friend" a party to the case wasn't a "big deal" despite the judge's instructions, apparently wasn't too upset about nearly going to jail, being only happy not to have to serve.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/12/31/florida-juror-dismissed-for-friending-defendant-on-facebook/

Juror Misconduct During Deliberations Exacerbated by Judge Mishandling It Resulting In New Trial

In a federal criminal trial of an attorney charged with wire fraud and securities fraud, during deliberations a juror threatened to cut off the finger of another juror, and later another juror tried to barter their vote.  Over counsel's objections, the trial judge met with one juror privately and without counsel present, encouraging them to work with the other jurors toward a verdict.  The resulting conviction has been overturned and the defendant granted a new trial:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-09/ex-refco-lawyer-collins-s-conviction-reversed-by-court-due-to-jury-issue.html

Moral of this story:  Be careful when dealing with juror misconduct.  Try to avoid making matters worse!

Judges Need to Anticipate a Prospective Juror Wanting to Take Notes on Tablet or Laptop

There is the old phrase "to be forewarned is to be forearmed." One of these days a juror is going to ask to use a tablet or laptop computer to take notes during trial. For you, the judge, to "just say no" is not going to be enough.  The juror, one of the TRIERS OF FACT, will wonder why the attorneys, judge and court reporter can use a computer but they cannot.  Some schools no longer teach cursive writing.  Most teens can "text" faster than they can hand-write.

It's important to consider this possibility before it happens in court.

New California Law Effective January 1, 2012, Makes Jurors Misconduct a Misdemeanor

This is a followup to my posting dated 9-27-11 which can be found among "older posts" below.  Effective 1-1-12 California's statutory and mandatory preliminary jury instructions include admonitions against use of social media while serving as a juror, violations of which are punishable as misdemeanors, ie. J-A-I-L. Here is a recent article; click the link and then search Facebook jurors on the site:

LINK