Thursday, July 18, 2013

High Cost of Sequestration

It has been reported that sequestering the 6 Zimmerman trial jurors has cost Florida $33,000 over the 3-week trial.  No incidents of jurors misconduct have been reported so far.  Many states including MN require 12 jurors plus several alternates for felony jury trials.  It is hard to imagine that any state judicial branch can afford over $60,000 to sequester a jury for the entire trial lasting 3 weeks or more.  But given the extensive media and public attention, plus the risks of jurors being contacted by unscrupulous people, in such a case there appears to be no alternative to insure a fair trial.

Link  http://news.msn.com/crime-justice/dollar33000-spent-on-sequestered-zimmerman-jurors