Tweets trash US trials

 

Gallery

By Stuart Turton

Posted on 18 Mar 2009 at 16:32

US defence lawyers in two separate cases are appealing the guilty verdicts on the grounds that the jury posted details of the case on Twitter.

The most high profile case revolves around former Democratic State Senator Vincent Fumo, who was found guilty of corruption charges.

During the trial juror Eric Wuest posted his musings on Twitter and Facebook, one of which informed people to expect "a big announcement on Monday" - referring to a verdict.

The defence team immediately objected, claiming his opinion was tainted, but the presiding judge allowed Wuest to stay on after accepting his explanation that "nobody really could know exactly what I was talking about without directly asking me... that's sort of the appeal of the whole Facebook, Twitter thing," he said, according to a transcript of the conversation released by the court.

However, defence lawyer Peter Goldberger has argued that "he's not talking to himself, no matter what he says."

In another case, building materials company Stoam Holdings was ordered to pay out $12.6 million to two investors who argued they were misled over claims that the company's new building material "combined the insulation qualities of foam with the strength of steel".

As with the Fumo trial, however, one of the jurors, Jonathan Powell, was sending tweets during the deliberations. One of those read: "Nobody buy Stoam. It's bad mojo and they'll probably cease to exist, now that their wallet is 12m lighter."

Stoam's lawyers are arguing that the message shows Powell "was predisposed toward giving a verdict that would impress his audience".

Commentators are suggesting US judges may begin limiting the use of mobile phones in the courtroom, bringing them more in line with the UK system that prevents jurors from having any communication with outside parties regarding the trial.