Juror's Tweets Overturns Trial Verdict

D H NG writes: The Arkansas Supreme Court had overturned a murder conviction due to a juror tweeting during the trial. Erickson Dimas-Martinez was convicted in 2010 of killing a teenager and was sentenced to death. His lawyers appealed the case on account of a juror tweeting his musings during the trial. Tweets sent include "The coffee here sucks" and "Court. Day 5. here we go again". In an opinion, Associate Justice Donald Corbin wrote "because of the very nature of Twitter as an... online social media site, Juror 2's tweets about the trial were very much public discussions." Dimas-Martinez is to be given a new trial.

Drop the Hammer

[RobinEggs]

People who derail trials like this need to be severely punished; I'm constantly seeing stories about people tweeting trial updates or sneaking their phone into the court room. The judges give very clear instruction on Facebook, Twitter, using your cell phone, etc. There's simply no excuse for not understanding that your phone doesn't belong in the jury box or the deliberation room, and that you don't mention anything about your experience online.

Between a death penalty trial, an appeal, and a Supreme Cour