“… It might be called a Google mistrial. The use of BlackBerrys and iPhones by jurors gathering and sending out information about cases is wreaking havoc on trials around the country, upending deliberations and infuriating judges…”
[John Schwartz, “As Jurors Turn to Web, Mistrials Are Popping Up,” New York Times (03.17.2009)]
Unless a court is willing to impose the expensive, unpopular, and rare sequestration option, where jurors may be effectively relieved of their blackberries, iPhones, and other Web ready handheld devices, the notion of justice being blind and jurors withdrawing from all forms of public information (as a monk might do) seems ever more obsolete in the 24/7 full access world we live in today …
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