Juries

Jury News

WSB Atlanta: Juror fights for wrongly accused counselor

‎The Republic: Chicago-area man alleges employer illegally fired him for federal ...

‎The Advocate: Prosecutors wary on jury legislation

‎Wall Street Journal: NJ jury pool shrinks in Rutgers webcam spying case

‎Roanoke Times: Senate passes bill allowing hung juries to be replaced for sentencing hearings

The Huguely Jurors and Social Media

The article below discusses the potential distractions that face the jurors deciding the UVA Lacrosse murder case in which George Huguely is accused of killing Yeardley Love.  Of particular concern is the possibility that jurors, prior to issuing a verdict, will discuss or learn information about the case via social media.  This is one reason why defense counsel had requested jury sequestration at the outset of the trial.  This request, however, was denied. 

If the Huguely jurors for some reason ignore the court's instructions about using social media, the article offers the trial judge some practical advice from Judge Dennis Sweeney (ret.), don't "overreact."  As some may recall, Judge Sweeney had his own run in with jurors who like to interact via Facebook (corruption trial of former Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon).  Besides his experience with the Dixon trial, Judge Sweeney has also lectured and written on the topic of jurors using social media.

Baltimore Sun: In Limbo, Huguely Jury Must Avoid Distractions

 

 

 

Motion for New Trial for Dishonest Juror

Here is the link to the motion for a new trial in the Paul Daugerdas case.  Daugerdas and his co-defendants were convicted of tax fraud for creating illegal tax shelters last year.  The defendants are now requesting a new trial because one of the jurors (#1) who decided the case lied repeatedly during voir dire e.g., she failed to disclose that she was a disbarred attorney with an outstanding warrant.  In addition, this juror, at the conclusion of the case, sent the prosecution a congratulatory letter.  The defendants have a real chance of succeeding on their motion.  The one potential stumbling block concerns whether counsel for defendants was aware or should have been aware of Juror #1's true identity before the jury returned a verdict.

 

Juror Gets 3 Days in Jail for Friend Request to Defendant

It appears that at least one U.S. court is taking a tough stance on jurors who violate the court's rules on improper communications.  Today, a juror in Sarasota County, Florida was sentenced to 3 days in jail for sending a Facebook Friend request to the defendant. 

Up to this point, most American courts, unlike in Britain, have avoided sentencing jurors to jail for violating court rules on improper communications. It will be interesting to see if this case is an anomaly or  marks a change in the approach taken by American judges in dealing with Digital Jurors.   Since some believe that this particular juror might have purposely sent the Friend request in order to be dismissed from jury duty (on Facebook the juror bragged about getting kicked of the jury), I am not sure that other judges will necessarily follow in the footsteps of this Florida trial judge and incarcerate jurors for failing to follow court rules about communicating with others. 

Miami Herald: Juror gets 3 days in jail for Facebook request‎

USA Today: Juror jailed for contempt for 'friending' defendant‎

CSI Effect in Australia

At present there is an on going debate as to whether legal television dramas like CSI impact juror decision making.  There are many in academia who believe that they do not.  There are just as many practitioners who believe that they do.  I find myself somewhere in the middle leaning more towards the practitioners' side.  The difficulty of course with the debate is proving it one way or the other. 

The article below offers some evidence that CSI and other legal dramas are impacting jurors.  For example, the article cites a study where some Australian jurors when faced with difficult jury instructions "slipp[ed] into what they learn on television.''  In that same study, conducted by Psychologist Professor James Ogloff,  many Australian jurors referenced the famous holding of Miranda v. Arizona despite the fact that this American case has no application or relevance in the Australian criminal legal system nor was this case ever raised or discussed during trial.

The Age: US legal dramas confuse juries

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Jury News

Majiros News: Japanese Supreme Court issues landmark decision on citizen juries

Jacksonville Daily Record: The experiences of one lawyer-juror

New Zealand Herald: Radical jury trial overhaul proposed

Beaumont Enterprise: 'CSI' Effect or stubborn jurors to blame for SETX mistrials?

‎The Republic: Witnesses, juror question conviction in 1998 NYC killing in ...

Bellingham Herald: Judge excuses some jurors because of opinion about immigrants

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Appellate Court Criticizes Trial Judge's Interactions with Jurors

ABC7chicago: Mob case judge skewered during appeal

Chicago Tribune: Judge voices concerns about juror contacts in mob trial

A federal appellate judge has expressed misgivings about a lower court judge's contact with jurors during Chicago's highest profile mob trial in decades — one credited with helping to weaken organized crime.

The judge commented Monday as attorneys for convicted reputed mobsters argued for a do-over of the 2007 Family Secrets trial before the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

Jurors five years ago convicted reputed mob boss James Marcello and others of racketeering conspiracy that included 18 murders.

Appellate Judge Diane Wood said at Monday's hearing she's concerned by accounts that trial Judge James Zagel seemed to have “private chats” with jurors that didn't become part of the official trial record.

Defense attorney Francis Lipuma singled out how Zagel dismissed one juror without consulting the trial lawyers.

Sandusky's Jurors May be Local

The trial judge hearing the child sexual assault charges against former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky has decided at least initially to use local jurors.  The prosecution had requested (against the desires of the defense) that jurors be selected from outside of the State College area to avoid the possibility of bias.  The question, however, is not necessarily settled.  According to the trial judge, "If, after a reasonable attempt it is apparent that a jury cannot be selected within a reasonable time, then I will reconsider this ruling..."

BusinessWeek: Ex-Penn State Coach Sandusky Gets Modified Bail, Local Jury

Huffington Post: Jerry Sandusky Can See Grandchildren, Granted Local Jury By Judge

 

Practical Limitations of Measuring Representation in the Jury Pool: New Law Review Article

Paula Hannaford-Agor and Nicole Waters, Safe Harbors from Fair-Cross-Section Challenges? The Practical Limitations of Measuring Representation in the Jury Pool, Journal of Empirical Legal Studies

Abstract: The U.S. Constitution guarantees criminal defendants the right to an impartial jury selected from a jury pool that reflects the demographic composition of the geographic community served by the court. Yet there is little consensus in case law from state and federal courts about the most appropriate method of measuring demographic representation or the degree of underrepresentation that would violate the fair-cross-section requirement. Although the U.S. Supreme Court recently addressed these issues for the first time since Duren v. Missouri, its opinion in Berghuis v. Smith did little to settle the questions. In the present article, the authors use demographic information from the U.S. Census Bureau and information about jury operations in state courts from the National Center for State Courts to estimate the potential impact of competing proposals about how to measure demographic representation at different threshold levels of constitutional tolerance. Given the demographic composition of counties in the United States and the size of the jury pool in most courts, the authors find that a bright-line rule using either of the two most common measures of representation (absolute disparity and comparative disparity) would create “safe harbors” in which the courts in a majority of jurisdictions across the country would become effectively immune from fair-cross-section challenges.

Susan Macpherson Discusses the Role of Trial Consultants

Watch top trial consultant Susan Macpherson discuss her role in the trial process.

h/tip Jurors Behaving Badly