By Sharon Hill
I was recently called for jury duty. It was a wrongful death suit where the plaintiff was the family who lost their mother and the defendant was an auto manufacturer. The issues at trial were whether the air bag failed to deploy, having to prove this had happened numerous other times and finally that the auto manufacturer was aware there was a problem.
Curious about the issues and after being let out after jury duty, I searched the Internet for any stories regarding the auto manufacturer and lawsuits.
I was not selected for jury duty so my searching was just fine. I did not, however, receive any instructions specific to using the Internet. Sure we got the standard don’t talk amongst yourselves or to others during voir dire. I had my iPhone and could have researched the case during the breaks and not thought anything about the impact it may have had on me as a potential juror.
Mistrials have been declared due to a juror researching a case on the Internet. Laws are very specific about prior bad acts being introduced at trial. By Googling a person’s name, information may come to light that the juror should not have known. In one instance, a juror posted a poll on her Facebook page regarding the outcome of the trial.
Judges are changing their written instructions to cover the use of social media to include texting or twittering or posting to someone’s Facebook wall. These judges are not being vague and are using the terms associated with the different social media sites.
The accessibility of internet in this mobile world and the ease and speed of communication is changing how our judges run their courts.
Watch for more articles on Social Media’s Influence to come:
How Social Media is Influencing the Real Estate Industry
How Social Media is Influencing the Jury Selection Process
How Social Media is Influencing Employee Networking
How Social Media is Influencing Local Politics
@social_dynamics
