Sue Hartigan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: Jurors Dismissed for Using Internet > RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) -- Two jurors in a murder trial > were dismissed after searching the Internet for > information on the death penalty and bringing their > findings into deliberations. > > Riverside County Judge Dennis McConaghy on Wednesday > removed both panelists for juror misconduct, replacing > them with two alternates. The panel was ordered to > restart deliberations. > > The jury is considering the penalty for convicted > murderer Nathaniel Sowell III. Sowell was convicted > last month of first-degree murder for killing two > teen-agers in February 1994. He claimed self-defense. > > A juror notified the judge on Tuesday that two other > panelists had discussed information gathered from the > Internet. Jurors may only consider information received > in court when deciding a defendant's fate. > > The Internet data included information about the cost > of implementing the death penalty compared with life in > prison, and whether someone sentenced to life without > parole might ever be released. > > Last week, the judge told the panel that a sentence of > life without parole meant exactly that. But juror Larry > Froehlich said he wanted more information about the > issue. > > Froehlich, who was dismissed for his actions, said he > searched the Internet but never found an answer. He > said he was leaning toward recommending Sowell be > sentenced to life in prison without parole. > > The other dismissed juror, Lani Hill, said she checked > the Internet to find out about her rights as a juror. > But she also read about the death penalty and told > Froehlich during deliberations that some of the > information she found differed from his data. > > Hill was the only juror leaning toward recommending the > death penalty. > > Also Wednesday, jurors told the judge that several > people on the panel had read a newspaper story about > the trial, which also is prohibited. > > The judge declined to dismiss those jurors, saying that > most of the information in the newspaper story came > directly from court proceedings and was not likely to > affect deliberations. > > Defense lawyer David Gunn unsuccessfully argued for a > mistrial after the jurors were dismissed. -- Two rules in life: 1. Don't tell people everything you know. 2. Subscribe/Unsubscribe, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the body of the message enter: subscribe/unsubscribe law-issues
