Juries

Bar Guidelines for Ohio Jurors: Forget What You Saw on ‘Judge Judy’ and ‘CSI’

On Wednesday, the Ohio State Bar Association Jury Instructions Committee approved jury instructions that warn panel members about improperly getting information regarding a trial from outside sources—including Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. “Certain controls over the judicial process we once had are vanishing from the courts because of the stunning rise…

May 27, 2010 9:54 PM CDT

Study Finds ‘Unattractive Harshness Effect’ for Uglier Defendants

A new study finds that less attractive defendants fare worse in criminal cases when the jurors have an “experiential” style of judging. These jurors, who tend to process information based on emotions and personal experience, were 22 percent more likely to convict the less attractive defendants than jurors with a…

May 20, 2010 10:30 AM CDT

Issues re Pediatrician Now Facing 500 Sex Charges Weren’t Taken Seriously by Other Docs

Now charged with more than 500 sex offenses, a Delaware pediatrican was the the subject of complaints dating back to 1994 that he had acted inappropriately with young female patients. Yet medical professionals, including at least one prominent physician colleague, apparently didn’t take the allegations against Dr. Earl Bradley seriously,…

May 17, 2010 5:58 PM CDT

Judge Takes Court Docket Offline to Prevent Jurors From Accessing It During Trial

Concerned that jurors might improperly access public information from the online court docket, an Oklahoma judge ordered it taken down for the duration of the trial in a medical malpractice case. But a mistrial still resulted, because the jurors could not agree on a verdict, reports the Tulsa World. Tulsa…

May 4, 2010 10:04 PM CDT

Chained on Campus for Ditching Jury Duty, Student, 19, Apologizes & Avoids Contempt

Kelsey Gloston, 19, thought her classes at Lone Star College Cy-fair were more important than federal jury duty. She found out she was wrong when U.S. District Judge David Hittner sent marshals from the Southern District of Texas to get her, and they removed her from campus in handcuffs and…

Apr 29, 2010 8:30 PM CDT

Columnist: Stop Laughing at Lawyer Jokes

A columnist who recently was called for jury duty was so impressed with the process that he is urging his readers to stop laughing at lawyer jokes. Lawyers largely don’t deserve their rotten reputation, columnist J. Karl Miller writes for the Columbia Missourian. “Lawyers, primarily those serving the defense, are…

Apr 27, 2010 4:37 PM CDT

Juror Faces Contempt for Watching YouTube Video Before Deliberations

Just before Donald Fielder was set to be sentenced in Louisville, Ky., for the reckless homicide of his girlfriend, two jurors came forward to alert the judge that one of their panel members had brushed up on the case by watching a YouTube video featuring an A&E report on the…

Apr 23, 2010 2:06 PM CDT

‘Trial From Hell’: Prosecutor Posts on Facebook; Jurors Text; Bailiff Chats in Deliberations

A recent trial in a Florida felony gun case sounds like a fact pattern out of a law school exam problem: Jurors admittedly were texting and making cell calls during deliberations. A bailiff chatted with members of the deliberating panel during a smoke break, according to St. Lucie County Sheriff’s…

Apr 22, 2010 6:49 PM CDT

Federal Jury Convicts Ex-Attorney Accused in $7M Mortgage Fraud Case

Updated: After deliberating less than a day, a federal jury rendered a guilty verdict on all but one of the charges against a disbarred Washington state attorney accused of participating in a $7 million mortgage fraud. It was allegedly perpetrated with the help of a company he operated and a…

Apr 1, 2010 8:16 PM CDT

A Panel of Their Peers

Lawyers puzzle over civilian versus military juries

Apr 1, 2010 7:20 AM CDT

KKK Leader Excused from Jury Duty; Threatened to Appear in Full Klan Uniform

Lawyers, even judges regularly serve on jury duty when called these days. But at least one ironclad excuse apparently can apparently still be offered: When Railton Loy called an Indiana judge’s chambers to point that he is Imperial Wizard of the National Knights of the Ku Klux Klan and could…

Mar 19, 2010 8:15 PM CDT

Did Juror Steal Fellow Juror’s Credit Card? Prosecutor Probes New Case During Recess

A prosecutor trying a credit card theft case in New York City wound up doing double duty after a juror accused another member of the panel of stealing his own credit card on March 8 and using it at stores near the Bronx courthouse over the next few days. During…

Mar 17, 2010 7:30 PM CDT

Juror’s Comment About Defense Lawyers Justified Mistrial, Appeals Court Says

A juror’s reported comment that “defense attorneys can be a––holes” is reason enough to vacate a cocaine conviction, according to a New Jersey appeals court. The appeals court upheld Judge John Almeida’s decision to declare a mistrial, the New Jersey Law Journal reports. A police officer who was a prosecution…

Mar 10, 2010 12:00 PM CST

Murder Defendant Wants Trial Delayed to Get Post-Census Jury Pool

A Georgia man accused of killing two people in a 2001 home invasion says his constitutional rights would be violated if he is tried by a jury drawn from 2000 Census figures. Floyd Wayne Williams Jr., who is black, is to be tried in South Atlanta’s Clayton County, the Associated…

Mar 9, 2010 11:50 PM CST

Lawyer Wins New Trial for Client Because Judge Didn’t Put Jury Under Oath

Sentenced to 15 to 40 years after being convicted of assault with intent to commit murder by stabbing an acquaintance in his apartment in what the prosecution described as a drunken frenzy, Timothy Lawrence Becktel has won a new trial. Because the judge in his case apparently forgot to put…

Mar 5, 2010 7:29 PM CST