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Balanced Access

By Ken Strutin
November 01, 2005

Due process in the Information Age means leveling a dynamic playing field. As courtrooms are being wired for computer access, jurors and litigants are opening the courthouse doors just enough to allow the Internet inside. These online excursions are challenging current notions of fair trial and equal justice.

Jurors are required to follow a judge's instructions and consider only the evidence presented in court. Independent investigation and research are discouraged, and talking to people outside court about a case is proscribed. The advent of blogs, wireless connections, and nearly universal access to the Internet have redefined the limits of juror behavior.

Take, for example, the case of Stephen Goupil, who was convicted of a felony in a New Hampshire court. After it was revealed that one of the jurors had posted something on his blog about the case, all the jurors were brought into court and questioned about it. (See, Geoff Cunningham, Jr., Goupil's Lawyer: Web 'Blog' Tainted Trial, Citizen Online, March 22, 2005.) Although the judge did not find “anything of concern,” the defense attorney was worried that his client's right to a fair trial was compromised.

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