Asking jurors about their blogs really can help you. I have evidence now.
I had the honor recently of speaking to the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, on the topic of jurors and social networking. I love this topic because people still really want to hear about it. It won't be too long before lawyers all know what an RSS feed is and can explain the difference between a group and a wiki; but until then, I can say something about social networking that most of the audience doesn't know yet.
When I've talked about this to other audiences, though, I've gotten some resistance. Lawyers don't like to ask about something as personal as a blog or a Facebook page, and they're not sure it's worth it. They've heard the stories about jurors whose blogs would have justified a strike for cause, but there aren't many stories like that yet, and those jurors were in other people's trials in other jurisdictions. Surely they wouldn't need to ask about blogs in their trial?
The first four blogs on the list
So this time I did a tiny experiment before my speech. I went to Jury Experiences, the best collection of juror blogs, and took the first four blogs on the list on the day I was searching. They were on the list because each blogger had been called for jury duty and blogged about it. I've read many juror blog posts before, but this time I wasn't particularly interested in what they said about jury duty itself. My question was: if a lawyer had looked at that juror's blog on the day the juror appeared for jury duty, would there have been anything important there?
On all four blogs, there was. Not necessarily something earthshaking, but in each case, something you would have wanted to know about that juror before you decided on your strikes. Here they are:
Blog One: Boredom Advanced, a blog by an art student. On the day he was on jury duty, if you'd looked at his blog, you'd have seen that he and his roommate were wrongly accused of vandalism, by school officials who were abusive in their questioning, and he wasn't happy about it.
So I call the guy when I get the chance and he starts trying to feed me this line of crap about how they're certain that this is either mine or David's fault and how they're leaning towards David. So they're basically looking for me to point a finger at him and give them the confirmation they need to slap a fine on him. Never mind the fact that none of us did it and they are strikingly absent of proof of anything . . .
I just want them to leave us alone.
We didn't do anything.
If high-handed police questioning (or employer questioning, or any other kind of questioning) is an issue in your case, you want to know about that blog.
Blog Two: The Journal of Rhiannon Black, a metalworker and gardener who says "I am not in my early thirties. I would like to be." If you'd looked at her blog on the day she was in court, you'd have seen this exchange with a guy she'd hired to help with her garden:
He transplanted my Creeping Rosemary.
[He says t]his is because he dug up the rosemary without knowing what it was or something. But really, it doesn't fit in the island.
What island? I don't have islands. I don't want islands. Oh my god what is he planning to do to my yard?
I told him that he had to respect some ground rules if he was going to continue working for me. Boy, was I getting the "you're a fat bitch" looks from him. But we'll see how it goes. If he comes back and starts working without speaking to me, again, I'm probably going to tell him to leave and not come back. He's not a bad worker but I don't want him doing what I don't want him doing and then expecting me to pay him for it.
Nothing wrong with that; I'd react much the same way if somebody moved my creeping rosemary. But there's a sense here of how this juror will interact with others, and perhaps assess her own perceptions if they differ from those of others, that you're not likely to see in voir dire.
Blog Three: AdBroad, the "oldest working writer in advertising." It's a terrific blog about women in the advertising industry -- less introspective than many blogs, but the author's bio is wonderfully informative, and there are moments like this:
It's Sunday morning in August and I don't feel like writing. I feel like reading. Something offline. The Times, in its original, crinkly version. Then something bigger. Bookier. Something literary. Which makes me part of a dwindling crowd. According to Amy Stolls, Program Officer at the NEA, fewer than half of American adults now read literature.
Again, you could live without knowing this. But voir dire won't bring out that reflection on her sense of her place in the larger world -- the world of other jurors -- and it would be a shame to miss it.
Blog Four: Mars Girl On Two Wheels, whose "love of cycling has sustained me through some rough times in my life." The blog is about both the cycling and the rough times, and it is personal and revealing. The week before she went to jury duty, this blogger wrote a long post about why she cares about equal rights for gay and lesbian couples:
Even as a heterosexual, I can relate on some level to being forced to hide aspects of oneself from the public eye to fit in. As a child in middle and high school, I submerged aspects of my personality in order to fit into the group mind of the adolescents in my high school. Though trite compared to having to hide your own sexuality, the toll to my mentality was detrimental. I found myself doubting my own self-worth and it took a lot of years to undo the damage I did. I guess that's part of the reason I've gone the complete opposite direction as an adult in highlighting the unique aspects of my personality, calling myself Mars Girl to constantly remind people that I feel I am different. I'm tired of hiding who I am so I've let myself out of my own closet to tell the world, "This is who I am; like it or leave it."
If there's a person in your trial who is marginalized in any way, you'd want to know about that juror's blog.
That's four blogs, randomly selected, and four blogs where lawyers would have seen something valuable if they had looked. It's not a statistically valid study; but I'm convinced.
______________________
Questions: Are you asking jurors about their blogs yet? What are you finding?
Related posts here: