Circuit Court Becomes Tweet-free Zone

St. Louis Circuit Court has become one of the first courts in America to address the growing problem of tweeting jurors. Social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook and MySpace have been causing headaches for judges who routinely tell jurors not to discuss trials outside the jury room.

Consider this: a British juror was dismissed from a trial after posting details of the case on her Facebook page and then asking friends if they thought the defendants were guilty. And in Arkansas, a $12 million judgment is being appealed after it was discovered that one of the jurors tweeted about the case during the trial.

The increasing popularity of social media has caused St. Louis judges to seek a change to Missouri’s official jury instructions. The proposal calls for jurors to be given specific warnings about using Twitter and other Internet sites during a trial. “Twitter asks one simple question – what are you doing?” says court spokesman Matt Murphy. “But if what you’re doing is serving on a jury in our courthouse, then obviously we don’t want you discussing that.”

Since juror misconduct can lead to a mistrial, and the added expense of trying a case all over again, more courts across the country are taking the problem seriously. However, evolving technology makes it increasingly simple for people to communicate quickly and easily through a cell phone or BlackBerry, meaning judges have to be more vigilant about reminding jurors when to sign off.