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, December 8, 2017
Friday, December 1, 2017
Habeus corpus granted to convicted defendant where juror brought extraneous social media information to deliberations
Juror in murder trial brought to deliberations Facebook information regarding the defendant's past history and information on an online eulogy for the victim of the murder. Juror also "Googled" gang information regarding gang codes and activity. Defendant was convicted. Trial judge denied an evidentiary hearing on juror misconduct. Federal court has granted habeus corpus. The state must grant a new trial within 90 days of the order or when appellate review becomes final, or defendant must be released.
Link: http://www.ncsc-jurystudies.org/~/media/Microsites/Files/CJS/Other/Ewing.ashx
Link: http://www.ncsc-jurystudies.org/~/media/Microsites/Files/CJS/Other/Ewing.ashx
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)