FairyFloss
Juror Jailed - Ooops!
June 19th 2011 10:33
A UK Juror has been jailed for eight months.
This strikes the question... What did they do?
Well her name is Joanne Fraill. This 40 year old woman was a juror in a $9 Million drug case.
For those of you who may not know, as a juror selected, you are not to speak about the case while it is in progress. If this is breached, the person involved can be jailed. But also it calls for a mistrial. Possibly allowing criminals to roam the streets.
In Ms Fraill's situation it was not her divulging information to her girlfriends over a cocktail, but it was when she began exchanging messages with one of the defendants over a social networking site.
This was no accident, Ms Fraill tracked down the 34 year old Defendant to express her empathy.
Some of the exchanges between Fraill and Sewart (defendant) was regarding information about the trial, including Fraill trying to persuade other jurors in hopes of Sewart's innocence or a hung jury.
Both women have now been charged with Contempt of the court. Fraill was even game enough to update her status regarding the hopeful deadlock the juror's were in at one point. She ended her status with "don't say anything"
Where did this empathy come from? Ms Fraill had been jailed as a young woman and felt a connection between herself and Sewart.
"Her contact with the acquitted defendant, as well as her repeated searches on the internet, constituted flagrant breaches of the orders made by the judge for the proper conduct of the trial," Lord Judge said during the sentencing of Ms Fraill.
So we can see here the severity her actions. But the same result can occur for simply having a chat with friends. So anyone who is selected from Jury Duty. Its your Duty (court appointed) for proper conduct within the court hearing.
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