WOODBRIDGE, N.J., June 28 (UPI) -- Jurors' cellphones are the latest challenge for U.S. judges trying to keep jurors from discussing a case with others outside the courtroom, legal experts say.
Lawyers for Melanie McGuire, convicted three years ago of murdering and dismembering her husband, are asking for a new trial based on their contention one juror may have used a cellphone from inside the jury room to post comments about the case to an online blog, The (Newark, N.J.) Star-Ledger reported Monday.
"I was always concerned about jurors catching glimpses of newspapers, but this wasn't on my radar screen," defense attorney Steven Turano said of blogs and Internet chat rooms. "I never thought in a million years that a juror would actually be online, posting about what occurred in court."
This phenomenon, legal experts say, is being referred to as the "Google mistrial."
During the Superior Court trial of gang member Edariel Melendez in Elizabeth, N.J., several jurors admitted to viewing online press coverage on a cellphone. No one would come forth about whose phone it was and the judge he had no choice but to rule a mistrial, The Star-Ledger said.
There are many such examples, the newspaper said, and as a result, many federal judges have updated their jury instructions to include a long list of items disallowed including Blackberrys, iPhones, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube.
"At some point, it's going to sound silly, because there's going to be so much social media out there and you can't list all of them," said Charles Dewey Cole Jr., an adjunct professor at Seton Hall Law School.
