Conviction Reversed After Jurors Consult MySpace

By TChris, Section Court Decisions
Posted on Fri Nov 30, 2007 at 08:15:59 PM EST
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Appellate courts often tell us that jurors are presumed to follow the trial court's instructions. Every now and then, reality intrudes. Jurors are always instructed to base their verdict on the law and evidence presented during the trial; they are not to consult sources of information outside the courtroom. That didn't stop jurors from trying to look up a witness' MySpace page in a sexual assault trial after hearing evidence about the page's content.

During the trial, the two jurors ended up looking for the home page of KJ, one of the alleged victims, whose mother had testified that she was withdrawn and not interested in older males.
The fact that KJ had a MySpace profile had come up during testimony. KJ had posted a comment on her page saying "remember my face because I'm going to be famous someday" and, according to the defense, used the account to communicate with older boys.

The bulk of the page had been restricted to invited friends by the time the jurors viewed it, but the West Virginia Supreme Court sensibly reversed the conviction to protect the integrity of the verdict.

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The court said:

We are mindful that the independent investigation conducted by two of the jurors did not bear fruit, which arguably lessens the prejudicial effect, but notwithstanding that fact, the mere fact that members of a jury in a serious felony case conducted any extrajudicial investigation on their own is gross juror misconduct which simply cannot be permitted. Without meaningful censure, failure to properly punish such behavior would encourage or allow its repetition. Given the independent investigation by these jurors and the fact that another juror advised that the alleged victims' testimony should be given more weight than that of the appellant contrary to the judge's instructions and our law, we have no choice but to vacate the appellant's convictions.

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Conviction Reversed After Jurors Consult MySpace | 2 comments (2 topical)

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the reversal (none / 0) (#1)
by diogenes on Fri Nov 30, 2007 at 09:39:10 PM EST

The jurors found no information on Myspace; if they had, it would have been prejudicial to the PROSECUTION because it would have somehow implied that the victims were trolling for older men and that it was their fault or that they wanted to be "famous" by making up false charges.
People whose appointment to a jury is not challenged by the defense or prosecution are entitled to their preconceived opinions about witnesses. If a single "official" employee has such clout as to persuade the jury, then the defense should have the brains to challenge the appointment of that person. That's why one side or the other always removes me from juries, thinking that I as a psychiatrist might sway witnesses with my "expertise".
Would you be so sanguine if an innocent verdict had been reversed because of this sort of "myspace" search?

i would think, had there been anything significant (none / 0) (#2)
by cpinva on Fri Nov 30, 2007 at 10:27:01 PM EST

the defense would have introduced the myspace pages as evidence. that they apparently didn't indicates there either wasn't anything compelling, or counsel was incompetent.

with regards to the employee's assertion that the jury should lend more credence to the alleged victim's testimony, than that of the defendant, so what? each juror is entitled to his or her opinion, based on the facts and law. if every trial, where a juror expressed an opinion during deliberations, were to be overturned based on that, pretty much every one would be.

in actuality, that's exactly what juries do, determine which witnesses they find most credible.