Personal Injury Law

Facebook Juror May Cause Mistrial in the Bronx

By Gerry Oginski

Newsday reported today that a juror on a criminal case attempted to "Friend" a witness in the case of two firefighters who died trying to escape a Bronx firetrap. Don't these jurors realize what they're doing?

According to the article written by Kathleen Kerr, one juror tried to communicate with a witness by suggesting that they keep in touch on Facebook after the trial was over. The defendants in the criminal case were convicted and now the defense is seeking to have the jury verdict thrown out.

At the beginning of every criminal and civil trial in New York, jurors are warned not to do their own independent research, and are told not to talk to other people about what is going on in the case. The reason is obvious: you don't want a juror to be influenced by any outside source when they deliberate on a verdict.

In recent months, a number of trials have been affected by jurors who have used Twitter, Facebook, Myspace and Google in an attempt to obtain additional information beyond what is learned within the courtroom during trial.

In one case that I commented on, a $12.6 million verdict was just recently upheld even though the defense attorneys made every effort to get the verdict thrown out because a juror was using twitter to comment during the trial. In another case involving a federal criminal drug trial, a judge declared a mistrial when it was learned that a juror's use of the Internet, which had been prohibited, came to light.

There is no question that Twitter, Facebook and Myspace users are eager to tell other people about what they are doing in their lives. Certainly, sitting on a criminal trial can be interesting, and may compel a juror to write updates about the trial as it is going on.

Google has made it easy for anyone using their web-enabled cell phone or iPhone to Google the lawyers, the parties, and even the judge. Jurors must be told that if they attempt to communicate via social networking sites about the trial that they are sitting on, it may result in a mistrial and wasted time, effort, money, and energy for all involved.

At least if you're going to tell people about your experience with the criminal or civil justice system here in New York, do it after the trial has finished.

Full post as published by New York Medical Malpractice Blog on April 08, 2009 (boomark / email).