A Juror’s failure to truthfully
answer questions by the Judge or lawyers can result in a mistrial,
embarrassment to the Juror and a miscarriage of justice.
Recently in Palm Beach
County, a Juror tweeted about jury duty despite the Judge telling the Jurors
not to communicate on social media about the case. Also, the Juror failed to
truthfully answer questions.
The
lawyers, who use experts to monitor truthfulness of Jurors during the trial,
found out about the Juror’s misconduct, and the Judge ordered the Juror back to
the courtroom to explain the conduct.
In
this case, the Court ruled the Juror’s misconduct was not material to the
outcome of the case. However, if it was material, the case would have been
subject to a mistrial. Murphy v Roth,
41 FLW D2282 (Fla. 4th DCA 2016).
