Wisconsin Lawyer
Vol. 84, No. 2, February 2011
Jurors are online and networking, too, and the bad habits of some continue to make headlines, including:
• the juror in England who polled her Facebook friends to decide whether to vote guilty or not guilty;
• the juror in Arkansas who posted eight tweets during a trial, including one tweet denigrating the defendant, against which the jury had awarded a $12.6 million verdict; and
• the juror in New York who, during deliberations, attempted to “friend” one of the witnesses.
Wisconsin Jury Instructions
Wisconsin courts were among the first courts in the nation to address these concerns by alerting jurors about online pitfalls and explicitly instructing them to avoid the Internet during trial. In 2009, the Wisconsin Criminal Jury Instructions Committee modified its standard jury instruction on jury communications (Wis JI-Civ 50) to address specifically the potential for Internet abuse:
“… Do not consult dictionaries, computers, websites or other reference materials for additional information. Do not seek information regarding the public records of any party or witness in this case. Any information you obtain outside the courtroom could be misleading, inaccurate, or incomplete. Relying on this information is unfair because the parties would not have the opportunity to refute, explain, or correct it.
“Do not communicate with anyone about this trial or your experience as a juror while you are serving on this jury. Do not use a computer, cell phone or other electronic device with communication capabilities to share any information about this case. For example, do not communicate by blog, e-mail, text message, Twitter, Facebook, other social networking sites, or in any other way, on or off the computer.”
To Learn More …
State Bar of Wisconsin PINNACLETM will present the live webcast “Amended Rules of Discovery,” on Thursday, March 31, 12 – 1:30 p.m. In July 2010, the Wisconsin Supreme Court adopted new discovery rules recognizing the influx of electronic discovery and regulating how e-discovery is practiced. The court further amended the rules in November to require a mandatory pre-discovery conference before engaging in e-discovery. The rules became effective Jan. 1, 2011.
The webinar will:
• provide a summary of the discovery rules;
• discuss the impact of the new rules on lawyers’ discovery duties; and
• relate the current status of amendments before the Wisconsin Judicial Council’s Evidence & Civil Procedure Committee.
Credits: 1.5 CLE credits. Tuition: $95 members; $115 nonmembers; $0 Ultimate Pass holders. Register: (800) 728-7788; (608) 257-3838 Madison area.
See also
• “What You Need to Know: New Electronic Discovery Rules,” by Hon. Richard J. Sankovitz, Jay E. Grenig & William C. Gleisner III, July 2010 Wisconsin Lawyer
