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Juror May Face Criminal Charge for Doing Online Research During Murder Trial

by Amar Toor on January 20, 2011 at 12:40 PM

jury boxA Pennsylvania woman could soon face criminal charges for conducting online research while serving as a juror in a murder trial.

The woman, Gretchen Black, reportedly consulted the Web to find out more about the injuries the victim had suffered, and offered to share her findings with the rest of the jury. At the time, the jury had already determined that the defendant was not guilty of first-degree murder, but was still deliberating over charges of involuntary manslaughter and third-degree murder. On Friday, the jury's forewoman told Judge Tina Polachek Gartley about Black's research, prompting Gartley to dismiss Black from the jury, and to declare a mistrial on the lesser charges.

According to Luzerne County Assistant District Attorney Michael Vough, Gartley had explicitly prohibited the jurors from conducting their own independent research, and warned them against consulting the Internet, in particular. Vough told Reuters that he may even file a criminal contempt charge against the juror, who works as a librarian at her local high school. A team of prosecutors will have to review transcripts of the trial, and interview the 11 other jurors before deciding whether or not to proceed with the charge.

Black's court-appointed attorney, Mark Bufalino, insists that his client simply misunderstood the judge's orders. Black, he argues, thought that the embargo on external research applied only to facts discussed in the court room -- not to related information, pertaining to how a person could suffer specific injuries. According to Bufalino, his client didn't intend to sully the legal proceedings, but was simply trying "to be the best juror possible."

Tags: contempt, crime, Internet, judges, juror, jury, law, librarian, mistrial, murder, pennsylvania, research, top, trial, Web

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