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Juror Has To Write Essay As Punishment For Commenting On Case Via Facebook
from the write-this-100-times-on-the-blackboard dept
We've written many, many times about how technology is invading the courtroom in ways that courts still aren't entirely prepared to handle. Social networking sites are definitely becoming an issue. There was the juror who Twittered during a trial, and almost led to a retrial. There was the juror who sent a MySpace message to the defendant. But, of course, the social network that pops up all the time with juries is Facebook. There was the case where jurors became Facebook friends with each other, and another where a juror asked her friends on Facebook, whether she should go with guilty/not guilty. In a lot of cases, these users are just using Facebook/Twitter/MySpace the way they normally would -- as an informal way of communication. But that doesn't mean judges have to like it.
In the latest such story, a woman who joked on Facebook that she was "gonna be fun to tell the defendant they're GUILTY," wasn't just kicked off the jury, but ordered to write a five-page essay on "the constitutional right to a fair trial," and ordered to pay $250.
Perhaps most interesting of all, however, is how this all came to light. Apparently, the 17-year-old son of the lawyer for the defendant found the comment on Facebook, told his father, who brought it to the court's attention. Kids these days...
In the latest such story, a woman who joked on Facebook that she was "gonna be fun to tell the defendant they're GUILTY," wasn't just kicked off the jury, but ordered to write a five-page essay on "the constitutional right to a fair trial," and ordered to pay $250.
Perhaps most interesting of all, however, is how this all came to light. Apparently, the 17-year-old son of the lawyer for the defendant found the comment on Facebook, told his father, who brought it to the court's attention. Kids these days...
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Focus of the Essay
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Re: Focus of the Essay
I'd focus the essay on how out of touch with reality people can be, especially when using Facebook.
The judge ought to make her write an apology 500 times on her Facebook page as well.
If I (God forbid) ever end up as a defendant in a jury trial I hope I don't have jurors like this clueless (and perhaps mean)woman.
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Perhaps the first genuinely useful one in the history of chain emails, ending with
If you don't pass this on to 5 people in your address book, within 12 hours, I'll be spending a week in prison for contempt of court.
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Re:
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Im sure that by not having a mistrial, this outcome is somewhat better. But by fining the juror and having an essay written, is in my opinion, a bit over the top.
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Re: Re: Focus of the Essay
He's just punishing her for doing online what the other jurors were already doing with their spouses and friends.
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Re:
Perhaps a contempt charge would be more in line with established protocol.
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Wouldn't it be interesting
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A bit misleading...
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important detail missing
To the judge, the juror was essentially admitting that they'd made up their mind already and wouldn't listen to the defense, which sounds like contempt of court to me.
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Re: Re: Re: Focus of the Essay
So, you're right that she did everyone a favor by getting herself ousted, and you're right that many jurors do this and never get punished for it but it wasn't just because she talked about the case but that she made up her mind before weighing all the facts of the case.
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Re: A bit misleading...
Actually, when I served on a jury many years ago, I tried to avoid making a decision early, but what I found was that my opinion was sort of like a meter dial on which the indicator needle would swing back and forth between guilty and not-guilty, depending on the latest evidence/testimony being presented. I was a bit concerned that I might be unfair to the defendant by doing that, but gave it a lot of thought and decided this was "natural", and that the most important part was my preparedness to hear both sides and take all the evidence into account. If my path wavered back and forth before making a final decision, that was OK, as long as the final decision took into account everything.
I also was impressed that my fellow jurors really did seem to take the whole thing very seriously. I didn't always agree with where they were coming from on various issues, and jury deliberation sure demonstrates that different life experiences can color one's perceptions in interesting ways. But, overall, everybody treated the whole thing seriously.
HM
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...so you want *more* people to do this?
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That should go for EVERYONE who gets out of jury duty for anything other than a hardship.
HM
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Re: important detail missing
Jurors are not supposed to be discusing the case, contacting anybody involved with the case, conducting their own investigation (e.g., visiting the crime scene on their own), talking to the press, etc., etc., etc. After the trial, they can say/do whatever they want, but until they are released, they're supposed to closed off to the world outside that courtroom (as far as the case is concerned).
That's one reason why some juries get sequestered - to make sure there is NO contact with the outside world in particularly sensitive cases.
HM
HM
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Any person can require help in writing speeches, for example.
But nowadays luckily it became much easier. Person involved in politics or a student from political sciences can use custom writing services to prevent any fails in this and devote more time for taking care of the other people
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