North Texas Juror Tried To 'Friend' Defendant
FORT WORTH (CBS/AP) - A North Texas juror who was booted from a trial has been cited for contempt after trying to "friend" the defendant on Facebook.
Court records show 22-year-old Jonathan Hudson on July 19 was removed from the jury in a Tarrant County civil case. The trial, over a 2008 car wreck, proceeded with 11 jurors.
Hudson last week pleaded guilty to four counts of contempt and has been ordered to serve two days of community service.
Texas recently added specific language to jury instructions that bans jurors from discussing the case on social networking sites. Hudson had received those instructions.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Sunday that Hudson attorney Steve Gordon says his client "made a silly mistake."
"I've never seen this before," prosecutor Chris Ponder said in the report. "But I'm afraid this is a new reality as the technology is so ubiquitous that we'll have these types of things occur."
Further details on the trial were not immediately available.
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