Releases

The Arkansas Supreme Court last week reversed the murder conviction and death sentence of a 26-year-old man, solely because a juror used Twitter during the trial to publish multiple comments about the case, despite the judge's strict instructions. "A juror using social media to post comments or conducting online research about the parties during a trial remains a concern," says Michael Hurst of Dallas' Gruber Hurst Johansen Hail Shank. "While state laws and trial judges demand that jurors not engage in this kind of behavior, the reality is there's no real way to make sure those rules are followed. Monitoring every juror's online account is simply not practical, and many people are so invested in social media they may not realize the potential problems they can create." In the Arkansas case, the Supreme Court has ordered a retrial and asked for a civil and criminal court committee review of whether and how jurors' online access should be limited during trials. For more information, contact Barry Pound at 800-559-4534 or barry@androvett.com.