Juror booted, sanctioned for Facebook status update

Facebook status updates- if they’re not getting you fired or murdered, they’re pissing off judges and getting your silly, non-court-respecting ass kicked off a jury.

Okay, you might say that serving on a jury sucks and you’d like to get dismissed from it. 20-year-old Hadley Jons wasn’t ostensibly trying to get out of jury duty when she signed on to Facebook and posted and update saying it was “gonna be fun to tell the defendant they’re GUILTY,” but the trial wasn’t over and the defense hadn’t even presented their arguments yet. Whoops.

Jaxon Goodman, the 17-year-old son of the defendant in the case’s lawyer, found the young juror’s comment the day before the defense was slated to get their defending on, and Jons was immediately removed from the jury. But that wasn’t the only consequence- she was also forced to pay a $250 fine and write a five page essay about the sixth amendment. Macomb County Circuit Judge Diane Druzinski expressed her judgly displeasure in court:

Druzinski told Jons that it didn’t matter whether she used Facebook to express an opinion or simply spoke to a friend about the case.

“You violated your oath…. You had decided she was already guilty without hearing the other side.”

A defense attorney for Jons would only comment to call the outcome “appropriate.” I wonder if Judge Druzinski had fun telling Jons she was guilty?

[Charleston Daily Mail via Gawker]