Juror Makes 'Dumb' Move, Seeks Date with Court Marshal, Putting Murder Trial at Risk
Seeking a date with a cute court marshal during the sentencing phase of an ongoing Connecticut murder trial, an alternate juror tried to send a note setting a time and place to meet. But it was intercepted by another juror who turned it over to a court clerk.
Superior Court Judge Jon Blue called the woman to account in open court, saying that her “dumb” move could have put the entire Steven Hayes triple-murder trial at risk had her note reached the intended recipient, reports the New Haven Register. The rest of the jury wasn’t present.
Because it didn’t, however, the judge determined that the juror could stay on the panel. The unidentified woman told the judge she thought it would be OK to date the court marshal as long as they didn’t discuss the case, the newspaper recounts.
The judge zinged back that he shouldn’t have to point out the obvious: “I don’t say ‘don’t walk naked across the New Haven Green,’ ” he told the juror. “I never felt I had to say that.”
The marshal has now been transferred to another courtroom.
Attorney Thomas Ullmann, who represents the defendant, argued that the alternate juror should have been dismissed regardless because she clearly wasn’t focusing on the evidence in the case, the Register reports.
