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Thursday, April 30, 2009

Courts - Michigan High Court tackles juries' Googling

Doug Guthrie reports today in The Detroit News:

New rules to codify what seems like common sense: Barring jurors from making cell phone calls or Googling while deliberating cases. The rules under consideration by the Michigan Supreme Court also would prohibit them from taking computers or other communications devices to court -- and maybe even using them at home, should a judge see fit. * * *

"Historically, judges told jurors, don't read the paper and don't watch the news. Don't talk to anyone about this, not even your spouse. Well, this is just a modern extension of that," said Antrim County Prosecuting Attorney Charles Koop, past president of the state prosecutors association. "You would think that you could assume jurors know they shouldn't use the Internet to make comments or do independent research, but they say, 'You didn't say don't use my PDA.' It's a new technology and a new habit for people to find answers at their fingertips, and we have across the state found judges who are not willing to instruct jurors to stop Googling information."

Koop theorized, "What if you have a criminal sexual conduct charge against a guy and a juror calls up the State Police sex offenders list in the jury room on his iPhone? 'Hey, he's already on this list so he must be guilty.' That's a problem."

The ILB has had earlier related stories, such as this one from March 17th.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on April 30, 2009 02:51 PM
Posted to Courts in general