New Mich. Jury Rule: No Texts, Tweets or Google Searches
Stepping up to the plate to deal with an electronic communications issue that has plagued courts throughout the country recently, the Michigan Supreme Court has issued a new rule requiring trial judges to warn jurors they cannot surf the Internet while they are in court or during deliberations.
The ban includes, but is not limited to, text messages, Google searches and tweets on Twitter, reports the National Law Journal.
The article doesn’t make clear whether the rule bans juror cell phones, period, as some courts have done following a wave of questioned verdicts because of trial-related commentary in the blogosphere.
Earlier related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Juror Tweets in $12.6M Case Teach Lawyer a Lesson: Ask About Web Use”
ABAJournal.com: “A Shock for Judge Zloch: 9 Jurors in 1 Trial Doing Web Research”
ABAJournal.com: “Lawyers Fume Over Juror Twitter Posts; Blogger Wonders What Would OJ Tweet”
