Juries

Jodi Arias jurors won’t have to disclose Twitter accounts, judge rules

An Arizona judge has ruled that jurors considering the sentence for Jodi Arias won’t have to disclose their Twitter accounts. Judge Sherry Stephens rejected a defense bid to obtain the account information so jurors’ tweets could be monitored, report the Arizona Republic and ABC15.com. Stephens said there was no reason…

Dec 6, 2013 1:45 PM CST

Judy Clarke has a knack for keeping her notorious clients off death row

In a South Carolina courtroom 18 years ago, Judy Clarke stood before a jury of nine men and three women and tried to humanize a client who had committed a horrific and inhuman act. Susan Smith at first claimed that a black man carjacked her and her two sons. She…

Dec 1, 2013 11:20 AM CST

Online juror form listed ‘slave’ as occupation

Court officials in DeKalb County, Ga., acted quickly after learning that an online jury form listed “slave” as a possible occupation. The word was removed from the form within an hour after 11 Alive raised the issue with court administrator Cathy McCumber, according to this report by the broadcast station.…

Nov 26, 2013 4:02 PM CST

Did falling bikini-top ‘emergency’ absolve distracted driver in fatal crash? Appeals court says yes

A trial judge got it right by allowing a jury to decide whether a fallen bikini top could constitute an “emergency” absolving a distracted driver of negligence in a fatal crash, a Brooklyn, N.Y., appeals court has decided. Brittany Lahm, now 24, took her hands off the wheel briefly to…

Nov 25, 2013 6:30 PM CST

Judge chides jury for ‘bizarre’ DWI acquittal, sees OJ Simpson parallel

A Texas judge recently disagreed with a jury’s acquittal in a DWI case, and he let them know it. Visiting Judge Jerry Ray told Tarrant County jurors that the acquittal amounted to jury nullification and it was “one of the most bizarre verdicts that I’ve ever seen.” The blog Liberally…

Nov 25, 2013 12:34 PM CST

Judge axes defense jury verdict in malpractice case due to conduct of insurer lawyer watching trial

A New York judge has overturned a jury verdict for the defense in a dental malpractice case due to the conduct of a lawyer who was retained by a major insurance company to follow trial developments as a spectator in the case. That lawyer, Scott Greenspan of Manhattan, “violated the…

Nov 20, 2013 5:45 PM CST

Juror’s ‘total lack of manners’ could result in contempt finding, judge says

A judge has declared a mistrial and is considering holding a juror in contempt because her “total lack of manners” distracted others in the case. The unidentified woman rolled her eyes, stared at the ceiling and fiddled with her jewelry after she was selected to serve on a jury in…

Nov 5, 2013 7:20 PM CST

Angry prospective juror says what he thinks on questionnaire, gets 3 days in jail instead

As a convicted felon, Erick E. Haubenstricker could have been excused from jury duty simply by including this fact on a questionnaire. But the 36-year-old Michigan man took a different tack on the document, adding profanity-laced comments that blasted the system. On Monday, despite apologizing, he was sentenced to three…

Nov 4, 2013 7:25 PM CST

Veteran lawyers share their ‘aha’ trial moments (podcast with transcript)

Litigators usually don’t want trial surprises, but sometimes you can learn from them. In this month's podcast, ABA Journal reporter Stephanie Francis Ward interviews three veteran trial attorneys to glean what "aha" moments they've experienced, in both trial and pre-trial work.

Nov 4, 2013 4:55 PM CST

Fear of juror Googling didn’t justify order to remove pages from lawyer website, appeals court says

A judge violated a lawyer’s First Amendment rights when he ordered the lawyer to take down references to asbestos wins on her website during a 2011 trial on similar issues, a California appeals court has ruled. The Second District Court of Appeal ruled on behalf of lawyer Simona Farrise last…

Nov 4, 2013 10:45 AM CST

Is the law firm associate model being phased out? | Encrypt laptop for ethics’ sake, blogger writes

The notion of creating a new class of associates that receives more training, less pressure to bill and less pay has taken hold at Greenberg Traurig as an alternative to the “quasi Hunger Game” model (as a Forbes writer put it this week) in which elite associates spend a brutal…

Nov 1, 2013 2:17 PM CDT

Juror dismissed for complaining about length of trial, pronouncing defendants guilty

A juror in a Pennsylvania home invasion trial has been dismissed for complaining about how long the trial was taking and for prematurely pronouncing the defendants “guilty.” The woman, identified only as juror 11, left a voice mail on a court official’s phone wanting to know how much longer the…

Oct 30, 2013 6:30 PM CDT

Scammer seeks to profit by imposing ‘fines’ on those who missed jury duty, authorities say

It’s no secret that many people blow off jury duty the first time or two they are summoned. That’s given an enterprising Colorado criminal an idea for a scam, in which he calls up individuals and threatens to arrest them if they don’t ante up to pay “fines” for not…

Oct 29, 2013 10:33 PM CDT

Lawyer who flipped the bird at defendant is removed as juror; was cab conflict the reason?

A lawyer who is a partner at an elite Manhattan law firm has been removed as a juror in a New York fraud case, but flipping the bird at the defendant is apparently not the reason for her dismissal. The lawyer was dismissed on Friday, apparently because she read a…

Oct 22, 2013 11:48 AM CDT

Breastfeeding mom faces contempt of court for bringing her baby to jury duty

Updated: A breastfeeding Missouri woman facing a contempt of court case for bringing her baby to court for jury selection has been granted a reprieve. At a Thursday hearing, Jackson County Presiding Judge Marco A. Roldan told Laura Trickle of Lee’s Summit that he would take the matter under advisement.…

Oct 21, 2013 12:17 PM CDT