Juror Doing Crossword Puzzles and Heated Deliberations Result in Florida Mistrial

 In November a Pensacola, Florida, judge granted a mistrial in a murder case, in part, because a juror (age 80) that was warned not to do crossword puzzles during the trial continued doing so during deliberations.  Also, jurors reported angry interactions, some racially-motivated, and feeling threatened during deliberations. The cross-wording juror denied threatening anyone and said doing the puzzles helped her concentrate.

Boston College Law Review Addresses Jury Experimentation, the Right to Fair Trial and Traditional "Black Box" Nature of Jury Deliberations

 In the most recent issue of the National Center for State Courts Jur-E Bulletin there is a summary of a Boston College Law Review article, "Breaking the Black Box: When Jury Experimentation Becomes Jury Misconduct."  (Vol.65:2863).  Author Jessica Parillo discusses existing case law on juror experimentation starting at page 2880  Fundamentally, jurors may not consider extrinsic evidence during the trial or deliberations (such as Internet research, visits to crime scenes, experimenting with material similar to the physical evidence, etc.).  The NCSC summary states that the author opposes revising the "no impeachment" rules as to jury deliberations and suggests instead preventative measures by the attorneys and judge to insure that misconduct does not occur in the form of experimentation.  Read the article and decide for yourself.  I agree with the author:  eliminating the sanctity of jury deliberations is a very slippery slope.

Check out my prior posts:

10-4-2024    Juror "Googled" floor plan similar to one involved in the case

11-14-22.     Juror conducts experiment with rifle.  Conviction vacated.

11-1-11        Reference to article on jury deliberation reform of the "Black Box"

I recall another case where jurors in deliberations used "Hot Wheels-type" model cars to reconstruction the collision involved in the case.