Jury Forewoman's 'Boring, Boring, Boring' FB Post Could Help Force New Trial in Rape Case
Updated: As of yesterday, two assistant public defenders in Florida reportedly were simply seeking to subpoena a jury forewoman’s Facebook records following published comments questioning her impartiality by another member of the panel that convicted their client in a rape case.
That panel member said in a post-trial Facebook post he believes—but doesn’t know for sure—that some fellow jurors relied on outside evidence, according to the St. Petersburg Times.
As of today, though, it has been confirmed that the forewoman posted about the trial on Facebook before it was over, the newspaper reports in an updated article. At one point during the trial, Robin Richter posted “Boring, boring, boring,” on her Facebook account, the newspaper says.
However, she denies receiving any outside information about the trial. A judge has now granted a subpoena to obtain all of her Facebook posts about the trial.
The defendant, Kendrick Morris, had previously been convicted in another rape case, but this information wasn’t supposed to be given to the jury in the second trial who have now also convicted him. DNA evidence, however, linked him to the second crime.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Discovery 101 for Lawyers: ‘Open Browser. Click. Gasp. Print.’”
Bay News 9: “Jury search continues in Morris rape trial”
WTSP: “GUILTY: Kendrick Morris convicted of rape AGAIN”
Updated on Oct. 29 to accord with revised new St. Petersburg Times coverage.
