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Friday, January 14, 2011
Ind. Courts - "Mistrial declared when jurors read paper"
From KICKS96, this story that shows it doesn't take a cellphone for jurors to get in trouble:
(Connersville, IN) A Fayette County trial that was weird from the start took another strange twist Wednesday.Trial on drug-related charges against Bruce Allen began this week in Fayette Superior Court, even though Allen was not there. Allen has been on the loose after begin arrested back in August of 2009. It’s extremely rare to hold a trial without the defendant in the courtroom.
During every trial, the judge instructs the jury not to read reports of the trial in the newspaper. But, Wednesday, several jurors admitted that they did just that.
It forced Judge Ron Urdal to declare a mistrial. Prosecutors say they’ll re-try the case. Fayette County has spent $1,200 to try the case, not counting the time of all the court officials involved.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 14, 2011 02:36 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts