Juror faces charges after contacting defendant on Facebook - Inquirer

A MEMBER OF A JURY in a drugs trial allegedly contacted a defendant through Facebook and is now facing contempt of court charges.

Joanne Fraill from Blackley in Manchester sat on the jury of a major drug dealing trial that had run for 10 weeks and cost upwards of £6m, but the case has been aborted after allegations of juror misconduct.

Fraill is accused of using Facebook to contact one of the defendants in the case, Jamie Sewart, who allegedly asked her to provide information on the jury's ongoing deliberations.

It's not clear how the two came into contact, but presumably Fraill searched for Sewart on Facebook and added her as a friend. We do not yet know the motivations for this contact, but even if it was intended in an innocent manner it throws the entire case into jeopardy.

Both Fraill and Sewart will be brought before Attorney General Dominic Grieve in the High Court in London on Tuesday, where the case against them will be heard by the Lord Chief Justice, Igor Judge.

The case raises questions about what kinds of communications access juries should have. Juries are usually commanded not to discuss the case with anyone outside the courtroom, while in some cases they are sequestered in hotels to prevent them from talking with family and friends.

Social networking, which can be accessed from smartphones and other portable devices, is a new challenge for the courts, but the Administrative Offices of the US Courts issued guidance in February 2010 that jurors should not use websites like Facebook and Twitter.

Members of the press and public in the UK were allowed to send tweets after Lord Judge approved the use of Twitter in the courtroom last December, providing it did not interfere with the case. He might reconsider this decision after this latest court disaster.

Another of the defendants in the case, Gary Knox, who was previously convicted for dealing drugs, is using the revelation to apply for a mistrial on the basis of the juror's inappropriate behaviour, according to The Times.

If Knox and the other defendants manage to get off on the basis of this juror's actions then Fraill could face heavy sanctions. It's likely, however, that the entire jury will be dismissed and the case will be retried with a new jury and tighter rules over what they can and cannot do.

With the cost of this prosecution already in the millions, this case could become even more expensive. µ