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Judges Seek To Avoid Courtroom Tweeting Outbreak

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By TOM BRENNAN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 20, 2009

TAMPA - As texting and tweeting creep into the nation's courtrooms, local judges say the best way to avoid pitfalls is by removing the temptation.

But ultimately, they say, jurors have to be trusted to obey admonishments not to let outside influences affect their verdicts.

"I can't stop them outside the courtroom, but I can stop them in the courtroom," Hillsborough County Circuit Judge Robert Foster said of the use of personal electronic devices.

Hillsborough Circuit Judge Ronald Ficarrotta said he has modified his standard jury instructions to include modern communication options.

"When they get home, they might get curious and they can look up jail records and all sorts of things," he said. "Some jurors might be tempted, but we have to put our faith in our jurors."

The issue is drawing national attention.

A federal judge in Fort Lauderdale recently declared a mistrial in a drug trial after learning that nine of the 12 jurors had been going online to research the case. A federal juror in Philadelphia was called on the judicial carpet for messaging his Facebook friends that a verdict was imminent in a high-profile public corruption case.

Hillsborough Circuit Judge Thomas Barber recently had to take two people to task for texting during the jury selection process.

He said it's hard to spot because people usually keep their cell phones or PDAs low in their laps.

"For younger people, texting is so much what they do," Barber said. "They feel they can text and still pay attention."

In the first instance, the texter told Barber no one told him he couldn't text.

Barber said he immediately incorporated anti-texting warnings into his instructions to potential jurors.

But days later, a woman kept texting despite the admonishment and repeated taps on the shoulder from a bailiff.

Barber and she had a private talk.

"I was very angry and I let her know it," he said. "I probably should have held her in contempt."

Local judges routinely collect jurors' cell phones during trials, returning them at lunch and the end of the day. They aren't allowed during deliberations.

Barber said they can't collect potential jurors' phones because of the sheer number of people called for jury duty.

For years, jurors have been told not to discuss the case or read newspaper stories or watch television accounts of the trial.

"I now add language about going online," Ficarrotta said. "I tell them to rely only on the evidence and testimony they receive in the courtroom."

So far, Ficarrotta and Foster say they haven't had any problems. But collecting the devices is a good preventative.

"I just don't want the distraction," Foster said.

In Pinellas County, judges are sticking to their current standard jury instructions, which advise jurors not to watch television coverage or discuss the case with their spouses, friends, other jurors or anyone else, said Chief Judge Robert Morris.

It's implied, he said, that they shouldn't be texting anyone about a case either.

In Tampa's federal courthouse, officials solve the problem by banning electronic devices.

Barber doesn't see state judges adopting that option.

"We like to think of ourselves as a little more user-friendly," he said.

He said the situation was probably the same when telephones were introduced and judges had to worry about jurors running to a pay phone.

"It's progress and we will find a way to deal with it," he said.

Tribune reporter Stephen Thompson contributed to this report. Reporter Tom Brennan can be reached at (813) 259-7698.

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