Thursday, March 19, 2009

Could Social Networking lead to Mistrials: Juror twittering causes appeal

Two civil cases could be thrown out of court due to juror's using social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, to allegedly discuss the case which they were deliberating upon before a verdict was given. It is alleged that while the juror's did not disclose confidential facts about the case, they were influenced by the replies they received.

With many people owning smart phones which can access the internet almost anywhere, the possibility of this happening in almost any jury trial (whether civil or criminal) is most probable.

Additionally, many trials, even those of low notoriety can be looked up using Google, therefore providing juror's with the opportunity to research the case they are deliberating upon with ease. I found this out when writing a University assignment which involved attending a jury trial which was relatively unknown. Before a verdict had even been reached, I could access key information about the trial (which was perfect for my assignment).

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