Technology Use by Jurors Presents New Challenges to Courts

Judges traditionally instruct jurors to listen to the evidence and arguments at trial and not use outside sources to conduct their own research.  They also tell jurors not to talk about the case with others during the trial.  The widespread use of devices that provide easy access to Internet research and social media sites present new challenges to the court system.

A new pilot study of 15 trials by the National Center for State Courts looks at jurors' use of technology.  Among other things, the study found that:

1. most participating judges admonished prospective jurors not to use the Internet for research or communications during the jury selection process and when impaneling the jury;
 
2. 86% of prospective jurors said they could refrain from using the Internet during the trial but 14% said they could not, even if instructed by the judge;
 
3. despite the judge's instructions, 44% of prospective jurors would have liked to use the Internet to obtain information about legal terms, 26% about the case, 23% about the parties, 20% about the lawyers, 19% about the judge, 18% about witnesses, and 7% about fellow jurors; and
 
4. despite the instructions, 8% of prospective jurors said they would like to use the Internet to contact family and friends about the trial and lesser numbers would use it to connect with another juror or a trial participant or tweet, blog, or post information on social networking sites.

While acknowledging that the study used a very small sample and noting the need for further research, the authors recognized some "tentative insights."

1. Few jurors reported committing misconduct.


2. A substantial number of jurors could not recall that the judge told them not to use these technologies or thought they could do so for searches.


3. A sizeable number wanted to use the Internet to obtain trial-related information.


4. A significant number said they would be unable to refrain from using the Internet during the trial.