Facebook stalk ends jury trial

A juror’s Facebook session has brought a criminal trial to an instant end in the Christchurch District Court, just as the judge was about to deliver his summing up.

The jury was already down to 11 members instead of 12, and the loss of another member – as well as concerns about ‘‘contamination’’ of the information available to the jury – meant that Judge Chris Field immediately ended the trial. It had been running since Wednesday.

Judge Field suppressed the name of the person involved, all their background details, and the nature of the charges they were facing.

After discussions with the prosecutor, defence counsel, and the defendant, Judge Field brought the jury back into the room and told them they were being dismissed. He said: ‘‘It has come to my attention that a juror has accessed Facebook for information on [the defendant]. This means that the trial cannot now proceed.

‘‘I had mentioned [in the judge’s address as the trial began] that trials have had to be aborted from time to time because jurors make their own inquiries.

‘‘Sadly, we cannot continue on that basis.

‘‘Thank you for your attendance so far.

‘‘I appreciate the fact that you have given up your time to sit as jurors.

‘‘There has to be no hint of any outside inquiries, or inquiries made online, and for that reason the whole trial has been compromised.’’

He then sent the jury out, and remanded the man on continued bail to appear at a pretrial call-over on April 11, when a date will be set for a new trial.