Rise of social media affects jury instructions

SANDPOINT — The advent of social media is bringing new instructions to jurors in Idaho.

Bonner County jurors deciding a misdemeanor battery case in magistrate court this month were repeatedly instructed not to discuss or research the matter via Facebook, Twitter, blogs or electronic message boards.

Judge Robert Caldwell’s admonishments during the trial are thought to be the first time a Bonner County jury has been instructed to steer clear of social networking sites during recesses, said Mark Johnson, chief bailiff at the Bonner County Courthouse.

It was also the first time Bonner County jurors’ mobile phones were confiscated when they retired to the jury room to deliberate a verdict, said Johnson.

Specific prohibitions regarding social media are also showing up in no-contact orders on a routine basis in domestic violence, battery and assault cases, according to Bonner County court documents. Prohibitions against using text messaging and e-mail to contact a protected party have been in place for years.

Social Media Law Update, a blog highlighting national legal issues regarding social media, counsels attorneys to ask the court to have the jury list any blogs or websites they post comments to on a regular basis and to check those sites during and after the trial to make sure a juror has not breached their legal obligations.

The blog cites cases where jurors have posted their personal verdicts before even hearing the defense’s case, posted photos of physical evidence and set up chat rooms to discuss the case.

“Courts have responded appropriately, and have included social media in the jury instructions before the trial begins, and also prior to the jury beginning its deliberations,” attorney Michelle Sherman wrote in a Dec. 14 post to Social Media Law Update.

Social media could also become a tool for attorneys to excuse jurors for cause during voir dire, the selection process in which jurors are picked by quizzing them about their attitudes and potential biases. The blog references a West Virginia case where a juror did not disclose that she knew the defendant but posts to the social networking site MySpace showed otherwise.

“Social media activity may show that despite a juror’s responses to questions, the juror is not being candid or truthful,” Sherman wrote.