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Facebook Post Juror Gets Fined, Removed, Assigned Homework

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the i'll-do-it-tomorrow dept.

eldavojohn writes "A Michigan judge removed a juror after a Facebook comment and also fined her $250 and required her to write a five-page paper about the constitutional right to a fair trial. The juror was 'very sorry' and the judge chastised her, saying, 'You violated your oath. You had decided she was already guilty without hearing the other side.'"

3 of 539 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Unasked Question by b0bby · · Score: 5, Informative

    I find it hard to believe no one is asking exactly why the defendants son is creeping around looking up jurors from his father's trial on Facebook.

    Um, it was the lawyer's son who looked it up, and the defendant was female.

  2. Re:5 page paper? by tomhudson · · Score: 4, Informative

    Technically, the judge HAS tried her. The judge has the authority to convict her of contempt of court. Up here, when a juror does that, they're looking at up to 2 years in jail, which is one reason why you don't see jurors talking about jury deliberations even decades after a trial - what is said in deliberations is forever secret.

    Ex-parte communication with the defendant is also a good way to go to jail.

  3. Re:5 page paper? by jeremymiles · · Score: 4, Informative

    But Gottman didn't know what he was doing when it came to data analysis.

    --
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