Transcript Slide 1

JuryScope Offers a Variety of Services
JuryScope brings an individual and customized approach to
trial consulting. We seek to discover the keys to most
effectively communicate each case to our target market: THE
JURY. To achieve this goal we use traditional research tools to
approach litigation from a marketing perspective. We provide
our clients with a strategic, thematic plan to present a
persuasive, jury-friendly message.
• Mock Trials
• Witness Tests/Witness Preparation
• Focus Groups
• Venue Selection
• Opening Statement Studies • Juror Predispositions
The Internet and Jury Selection
 Note on Professional Responsibility
 Information provided by the court
 Types of searches
 Backgrounds
 Political Activity/Contributions
 Bankruptcy
 Plaintiff/Defendant in Lawsuit
 Employer (Patents?)
 Social Networking Sites
 Blogs (Daily postings during trial)
 Knowledge of Local Counsel
 Private Investigator
 Judicial searches
 Approaching the court with the information
INFORMATION THAT CAN BE FOUND ON-LINE
INFORMATION THAT CAN BE FOUND BY A PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR
Through the Eyes of Jurors: The Use of Schemas in the Application
of “Plain-Language” Jury Instructions
 Understanding how jurors make decisions
 Filtering and categorizing information
• Categorization allows a person to identify one thing/attribute/etc.
from another (11 million pieces of information per second)
• Very basic and deeply ingrained categories
o Devaluing or qualifying positive information to support beliefs
 All of these unconscious and conscious stereotyping and categorization
comes equally into play in a courtroom- at every level
• Difficult in that few people will admit to their biases
 Remedies to overcoming schema
 Pre-instruct
 Plain language jury instructions
 Suggest jurors acknowledge potential biases and attempt to see both sides
 Examples of how the law applies?
Jurors and the Internet
 Jurors firmly believe they are being helpful
 Mistrials?

Presumption of bad

Rebuttal of no effect
 Pre-jury selection juror research

Inquire in voir dire
Jurors and the Internet
 Jury Instructions


Need to give the jurors the what and the why to understand the
restriction
• Protecting the rules of evidence
Examples of instructions
•
Northern District of California
•
•
[Jurors] risk contempt, jail or fines for doing any online
research or communicating via "writing, the telephone, email, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, instant messaging,
Blackberry messaging, iPhones, iTouches, Google, Yahoo ... or
any other form of electronic communication for any purpose
whatsoever."
District of Colorado
Jury Instructions – District of Colorado
During the course of the trial you will receive all the evidence you legally may consider to
decide the case. Researching or gathering any information on your own that you think might be
helpful is against the law and would be a violation of your oath. Do not engage in any Internet
or other outside reading or research in this case. Do not consult dictionaries, maps, or make
any investigation about the case, the lawyers, the parties, or the witnesses. I wish I did not
have to dwell on this topic, but recent events in another trial in this District, and recent
technologies, require me to point out that some common practices and habits many of you
enjoy are strictly forbidden in your role as jurors. You may not, under any circumstances, have
your cell phones, Blackberries, Iphones, or the like on when court is in session. Whether you
are in court or away from court during recess you may not “Google, Twitter, Tweet, text
message, blog, post” or take any other action that has anything to do with this case. To do so
could cause a mistrial, meaning all of our efforts over the course of the trial would have been
wasted and we would have to start all over again with a new trial before a new jury. If you were
to cause a mistrial by violating this order, you could be subject to paying all the costs of these
proceedings and you could also be punished for contempt of court. This is not a trivial matter –
earlier this year, after the evidence in a criminal case was completed, one juror, despite this
order, “Googled” maps that she thought were relevant to the case. A mistrial was declared in
that case and the juror faced contempt of court charges that could result in her being jailed
and/or ordered to reimburse both the prosecution and the defense for costs and fees incurred
in the trial. Her actions compromised a years-long investigation and prosecution, violated the
defendant’s right to know and confront all the evidence against him, and wasted all of the time
expended by the Court, counsel, and her fellow jurors to hear the case. Fairness to all
concerned requires that all of us connected with this case deal with the information and with
nothing other than the same information produced in this courtroom.
Jurors and the Internet
 Threatened consequences
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Extremes – delay of trial to jail time/major penalties
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Judiciary is not in agreement on what level of “threat” is
appropriate
Jurors and the Internet
 Who polices?
 The Power of Suggestion- are we encouraging the bad behavior?
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Need to give the jurors the instruction to have it on the record, too
many out there with daily access to the Internet

Monitor client websites, news, associated news (“press clippings”)
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Planting information on websites?
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Not illegal… unethical?
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Gag order or protective order in the case?
 Creative Court Remedies for the Tech-Addicted
Representative Written Sources:
Botelho, Greg, “Juror, witness, Facebook exchange imperils Tennessee murder conviction,” CNN, September 12, 2013
Brown, Evan, “Judge should have let lawyer Google potential jurors during jury selection,” 4Comments, September 4, 2010.
Gordon, Sara, “Through the Eyes of Jurors: The Use of Schemes in the Application of “Plain-Language” Jury Instructions,” Hastings Law
Journal, Vol. 64:643 April 2013.
Mintz, Howard. “Jurors must lay off Twitter, Facebook, iPhones and all else for Barry Bonds Trial,” The Mercury News, March 5, 2011.
Nicolas, Ebony, “A Practical Framework for Preventing ‘Mistrial by Twitter’”, Cardozo Arts & Entertainment, Vol. 28:375.
Ostrow, Adam, “Social Networking Dominates Our Time Spent Online,” Mashable, August 2, 2010.
Schwartz, John, “As Jurors Turn to Web, Mistrials are Popping Up,” The New York Times, March 18, 2009.
St.Eve, Hon. Amy J. and Michael Zuckerman, “Ensuring An Impartial Jury in the Age of Social Media,” Duke Law & Technology Review,
Vol. 11, No.1.
Strutin, Ken, “Social Media Misbehavior by Jurors Afflicts Trial Process,” New York Law Journal, March 16, 2011.
Zora, Marcy, “The Real Social Network: How Jurors’ Use of Social Media and Smart Phones Affects a Defendant’s Sixth Amendment
Rights,” University of Illinois Law Review, Vol. 2012:578.
www.juryscope.com
Presentation Content Written & Compiled by:
Christina Ouska [email protected]
Johanna Carrane [email protected]
Graphics template provided by: VISUALEX
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