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“The fact [is] that jurors can use social media for entertainment purposes as they normally would on a daily basis, and fall into the trap so to speak of accidentally or inadvertently coming across material they shouldn’t, or expressing details online through their media presence that ultimately have a prejudicial …
Is it possible for a jury to be unbiased?
In the end, no one can ensure a jury is 100% unbiased, but the courts come as close as possible. If you have been accused of a crime, it is important to understand jury opinion and have a skilled criminal defense attorney that knows how to assess and create an impartial jury.
How are jurors influenced by media?
Another way that media coverage changes the way that judges and juries act in the legal system, is by giving them extra information into the case, or the clients behind the case. This means that from the moment a juror enters the courtroom, they’re already biased in the way they make decisions regarding the case.
Social media posts and even private messages regularly end up being used in criminal cases as evidence against a defendant. Everything that is posted on social media or even words and phrases searched on your computer are subject to being found by law enforcement and being used against you in a court of law.
How does social media affect the legal system?
Social media use that either directly violates ethical rules or questions the actions of even a small portion of lawyers will taint the image of the legal community and lead to diminished public confidence in our legal institution.
Can social media play a positive role in the court system?
Social media can facilitate two-way, interactive engagement between the courts and the public. Social media can thereby help to reaffirm public confidence in the legal system, including by assisting courts to build more personal relationships with individuals by showing a more ‘human’ side to the judicial system.
Why is unbiased jury important?
An impartial jury is basic to the judicial system in all criminal cases. It is this impartiality that enables the jury to analyze the evi- dence and to make a fair and reliable determination of guilt or inno- cence.
How is an impartial or unbiased jury selected?
To ensure an impartial jury, the Supreme Court has stated that those chosen for jury service must be chosen from a representative cross-section of the community. The venire need not be the same statistical makeup of race, gender and ethnic background as the community.
Does social media influence the jury or a fair trial?
The near ubiquity of social media has also led to increasing numbers of jurors using social media during trials, despite specific warnings against doing this. Juror social media use has the power to affect trial outcomes and potentially lead to mistrials.
Why media involvement in criminal trials is problematic?
To make matters worse, these stories frequently include prejudicial information that is rarely allowed during the actual criminal trial. Along with being more likely to believe that the accused is guilty before the trial even begins, they are also more likely to mistrust any evidence raised by the defense.
Can social media be used as evidence in court?
Article Is Facebook Evidence Admissible in a Court of Law? Whether it’s Facebook posts and comments, Instagram pictures, Twitter tweets or YouTube videos, the short answer is yes: both public and private social media content can be admissible in litigation.
Can social media post be used in court?
Can those comments be used in court? Whether it’s Facebook posts and comments, Instagram pictures, Twitter tweets or YouTube videos, the short answer is yes: both public and private social media content can be admissible in litigation.
Additionally, with easy access to social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, jurors could potentially know the factors that involve a case even . this could affect the jury selection more, because a large part of society has access to these sites, and finding a person who has not heard much about a big case will be difficult.
How should judges deal with social media bias in court?
As a result, in cases where there is media involvement or inflammatory social media, judges and legal counsel must focus its attention on identifying areas of potential bias and seeking to remedy them through skilled advocacy. The issue grows more complex however.
Is social media bias affecting the way we evaluate evidence?
Juries are supposed to consider evidence without influence or bias from the outside world. However, the widespread access to and use of the internet and social media threatens to undermine this, with significant consequences for our criminal justice system and those within it.
How does media exposure affect jurors in court cases?
Learning about the case they are working on could not only be affected by the media exposure of that specific case, but also the verdict the jurors reach could be affected by previous cases.