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, June 17, 2016

Sitting Juror-Paranormal Medium Claims Visit by Victim-Deceased, Is Excused From Jury

A Calgary juror, an alleged paranormal "medium", claimed she was visited by the victim-deceased. She was excused.

http://calgaryherald.com/news/crime/juror-dismissed-at-start-of-strasser-hird-trial-after-claiming-visit-from-victims-ghost

Friday, June 3, 2016

"Lovestruck" juror Jailed for Falsely Facebooking Another Juror and Research During Trial

Ah, spring, when a young man's fancy turns to...
A Florida juror has been jailed for his Facebook false communications with a fellow juror (post-trial)and his research of a term in violation of the judge's admonitions. He attempted to get the other juror to make false allegations about jury misconduct in order to get the guilty verdict overturned:

Link: http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/news/crime-law/juror-gets-8-days-in-jail-for-researching-word-pus/nrTwd/