« Ind. Decisions - Court of Appeals issues 6 today (and 13 NFP) | Main | Ind. Decisions - "Non-compete clause likely valid, court says" »
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Ind. Decisions - Judge declares mistrial when juror brings newspaper into jury room
Not only a newspaper, but a paper with a photo of the defendant on the front page, according to this story by Ruthann Robinson in today's NWI Times. It begins:
CROWN POINT | Before hearing a word of opening statements in a child molestation trial Tuesday, the judge dismissed the jury because one of them disregarded his instructions.Ruth Ann Krause of the Gary Post-Tribune reports that the it was the Post-Tribune that the juror was reading: "[Judge] Murray said his chief bailiff, Tom O'Brien, informed him a juror had brought into the jury room a copy of Tuesday's Post-Tribune, which on the front page included a photo of Zagorac, 24, of Munster, and information about pending cases in Illinois."Lake Criminal Court Judge Clarence Murray declared a mistrial for Brett Zagorac, 23, the former substitute teacher accused of molesting a student in 2003.
A bailiff saw a juror carry a newspaper -- with Zagorac's picture on the front -- into the jury room, Murray said. As a rule, all judges instruct jurors, upon swearing in, to not learn about the case outside the courtroom. That means not talking to anyone, reading papers, watching TV accounts or looking details of the cases up on the Internet.
When the bailiff asked the juror what he was doing, all the jurors in the room smiled, the bailiff told Murray.
At that point, Murray discussed the situation with both prosecution and defense lawyers. All agreed with the judge that even if he polled jurors individually about what they may or may not have seen, they would "be less than candid," Murray said.
"I feel the jurors have been compromised," Murray said in open court. "This is not an indictment against the media. They are just doing their job."
Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 31, 2007 01:40 PM
Posted to Ind. Trial Ct. Decisions