JURORS BEHAVING BADLY

A blog about the very small percentage of jurors who fail to follow the judge's instructions, including doing independent Internet research, using social media (such as Facebook) to contact parties and lawyers, and blogging about the trial. Juror misconduct frequently results in mistrials and a waste of resources. Links will be provided to sample jury summonses, jury instructions, and other resources to improve juror education and minimize juror misconduct, thereby promoting fairness of trials.

Friday, September 11, 2015

Conviction Reversed After Juror Making Racial Comments Found to Have Implicit Bias

A juror told two other jurors that she saw 2 African-American men in her neighborhood and that such an occurrence was unusual and she thought a conspiracy related to the trial. The other 2 jurors were sympathetic. The trial judge failed to remove the juror from the case and the defendant was convicted. Reversed on appeal.

http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/opinions/a0211-12a3356-13.pdf