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Jurors Still Tweeting About Trials They Don't Care About, Anyway

by Amar Toor on December 9, 2010 at 11:10 AM

jury duty tweets
Facebook and Twitter have created plenty of courtroom headaches for jurors and judges, but new research from Reuters Legal shows just how many trials have been derailed by the Internet -- and, more importantly, just how many jurors continue to defy legal protocol online.

The report shows that, since 1999, Web-related juror misconduct has led to at least 90 challenged verdicts -- more than half of them having occurred within the past two years. Of those 90 challenged verdicts, 28 have been reversed. Even in instances where mistrials weren't declared, judges still acknowledged improper juror behavior in 75-percent of the cases.

What's even more surprising, though, is the brazenness with which many jurors continue to digitally cross the line. Over a three-week period in November and December, Reuters Legal scoured Twitter for all tweets containing the term "jury duty." Researchers discovered that tweets from prospective or sitting jurors surfaced at the rate of one every three minutes. Most of the tweets complained about having been selected for jury duty, or about how boring court really is.

Some jurors, however, made shockingly straightforward comments on a defendant's guilt or innocence. "Looking forward to a not guilty verdict regardless of evidence," reads one. Another circumspect juror tweeted: "Jury duty is a blow. I've already made up my mind. He's guilty. LOL." It's good to know that our peers take their civic duties so seriously.

Tags: court, facebook, judges, juror, jury, law, politics, SocialNetworking, study, top, twitter, Web

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