Well-Connected Jurors - Should the Internet Be Off-Limits in the Jury Box?

A recent article in Time Magazine examines the question of whether electronic devices such as phones with Internet access could be dangerous to the expectation of a fair trial. After all, in sharp contrast to just five years ago, a juror's phone may as well be a computer in their pocket when it comes to the sort of information they can access on it.

With the stigma that jury duty has of being dull, jurors may be reluctant to give up their ability to check email or Twitter during breaks in the proceedings. Perhaps they're itching to update Facebook with "is wishing this trial would end soon so I can go home!" But the impetus for a new rule in Michigan that bans the devices from deliberations is the research at their fingertips; should a juror be able to supplement the information provided by witnesses by what they can get from the Wikipedia app on their iPhone? And social media could also be a problem, as illustrated by one example given in the article of a juror sending a Facebook friend request to a witness.

This isn't the first time that cultural changes have had a profound impact on the way that lawyers think about their juror audiences; during the past decade, the "CSI effect" has become more prevalent. The obsession with television shows featuring forensic science has brought with it an increased interest in the subject in courtrooms – and also an expectation for more evidence. Likewise, our just-Google-it generation expects information at our fingertips; we're used to seeing source documents and are skilled at finding them for ourselves.

But is the banning of phones really necessary or should courtroom expectations be shifting with the technology and culture? Some believe that the real danger could be that of misinformation – and worse, the possibility of misinformation planted online with the intention of influencing jury pools. Perhaps it is more difficult for justice to be blind when she has a search engine in her pocket.

Source: Legalmatchmaker.com