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Jurors and reporters gagged after Rochester verdict

By Mark Obbie

This one's close to home. A Rochester federal judge who's scheduled to sentence three people later this month has reaffirmed his order barring jurors from talking to anyone about their deliberations and, remarkably, barred anyone (including reporters) from contacting them. Not that there's any proof that reporters have harassed jurors, or even tried to do what reporters should do after a big trial of local interest (the defendants were convicted in a scheme that defrauded local taxing authorities, involving inflated valuations of Kodak real estate). The local Gannett paper, the Democrat & Chronicle, briefly reported the decision on July 31, which I missed, and today published this editorial, which rightly slams the judge for going overboard. The paper quotes the judge as writing that his gag order was "necessary based on the highly publicized nature of this case, to adequately protect that sanctity of jury deliberations, and to protect jurors from being examined about their deliberative process." Earth to Judge David Larimer: Once deliberations are over, it's up to jurors to decide what to reveal. (Via Judicial Reports)

Full post as published by Lawbeat on August 06, 2008 (boomark / email).