Juror fined, more, after posting early 'verdict' to Facebook

September 5th, 2010 4:27 pm ET

Wnen you're on a jury, not only are you not supposed to discuss the case with anyone outside the jury, you're certainly not supposed to make your mind up before all the evidence is presented. Thus, Michigan resident Hadley Jons made two mistakes when serving on a Jury in early August.

Jons, 20, posted to her Facebook that it was "gonna be fun to tell the defendant they're GUILTY." The post was discovered by the defense team on Aug. 11, before they had even begun presenting their side of the case, and Jons was removed from the jury the next day.

That wasn't the end of the story. Earlier this week, Jons received her punishment, which was actually quite mild. She was assigned a five-page essay to write about the constitutional right to a fair trial, by Macomb County Circuit Judge Diane Druzinski. "I'm sorry, very sorry," Jons told Druzinski. She has to complete the essay, as well as pay a $250 fine, by Oct. 1st.

Facebook perhaps was worse than telling a friend about the case. After all, all Jons' friends (or at least those given the rights to) could see her post. "You violated your oath. You had decided she was already guilty without hearing the other side," Druzinski said.

The Facebook post was found by Jaxon Goodman, the 17-year-old son of the defendant's defense lawyer. Leann Etchison had been charged with resisting arrest. She was eventually found guilty.

This is just another example of how difficult things are for the courts in this day of smartphones and social networking. Among other things, courts also have to deal with folks using their smartphones (and the Internet) to research cases, which is something else taboo for jurors.