Juries
Trial Consultants Add Facebook/Myspace to Juror Research Toolbox
Posted Sep 29, 2008, 10:00 am CST
By Molly McDonough
When trial consultant Robert B. Hirschhorn gets a new case, one of the first things he does is start surfing the Net.
Increasingly for him and other jury experts, the Internet is the place to go to find out how a prospective juror might feel about a particular issue, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The Times asserts that, "In the age of MySpace, Facebook, cyberspace sales pitches and blogging, the Internet is proving a treasure trove of insight into the thinking and values of those called for jury duty."
But while the skeletons can be found on social networking sites, consultants are mining personal information from a number of sources. They also examine online letters to the editor, e-petitions, club memberships and campaign contributions.
"If a juror has an attitude about something, I want to know what that is," Jeffrey T. Frederick, head of jury research for the National Legal Research Group in Virginia, told the Times.