Juror’s iPhone Use Causes Mistrial In Manslaughter Case [Mistrials]

A jury foreman in a manslaughter murder case in Florida has caused a mistrial along with his iPhone. How? He looked up the word ” prudence” during deliberations. On Encarta.

The details of the case: a man in his 60s shot his 19-year old neighbor during a heated dog-walking argument. The older man argued that he feared for his life at the time, and the defense argued that his decision to shoot the teen was ” prudent,” i.e. legally viable. The foreman looked up the word ” prudence” on his iPhone to aid inform his peers of what, exactly, they were considering. That’s an immense no-no, in line with the Court of Appeals:

After the appellant was convicted, a juror contacted defense counsel and claimed that during a break from jury deliberations, the jury foreperson used a smartphone, specifically an iPhone, to appear up the definition of ” prudence.” The court granted a motion to interview jurors and determined, after an evidentiary hearing, that there was juror misconduct based on the indisputable fact that the jury foreperson utilized his smartphone to look a website, Encarta, for the definition of ” prudent” or ” prudence.” The foreperson shared this definition with other jurors during deliberations.

Instead of a conviction, the accused murderer will get a fresh trial. All attributable to one imprudent use of technology. [Image credit: Internet Cases via Geekosystem ]

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This post is tagged: defense counsel, definition of prudence, definition of prudent, evidentiary hearing, indisputable fact, juror misconduct, jury deliberations