Juror Hadley Jons Punished For Posting Verdict On Facebook

MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. — A Detroit-area woman who was removed from a jury for commenting about the ongoing case on Facebook has a longer writing task ahead: a five-page essay about the constitutional right to a fair trial.

A judge ordered the essay Thursday for Hadley Jons, three weeks after she wrote on Facebook that it was "gonna be fun to tell the defendant they're GUILTY." The trial, however, wasn't over.

"I'm sorry, very sorry," Jons, 20, of Warren told Macomb County Circuit Judge Diane Druzinski.

The post was discovered by the defense team Aug. 11 – before the defense had even started its case – and Jons was removed from the jury the next day.

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," the judge said.

By Oct. 1, Jons must submit an essay about the 6th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and pay a $250 fine.

Jons declined comment outside court. Her attorney, John Giancotti, said the outcome was appropriate. He declined further comment.

Jons was a juror in a criminal case against Leann Etchison, who was charged with resisting arrest. She was eventually found guilty.

The Facebook post was found by Jaxon Goodman, the 17-year-old son of Etchison's defense lawyer.

"She'll think twice about how important being on a jury is," Goodman said.

Comments

[bernieg1]

03:58 PM on 09/06/2010

Leann left a comment on my blog stating that she is innocent, see http://bit.ly/bhjTY4

[Equinator]

09:56 PM on 09/05/2010

This one is not so smart. Hopefully the publicity educates a more than just this one. Some thoughts are best kept private.

[jabreal00]

12:55 PM on 09/05/2010

It's ridiculous that people post every mundane to very personal details of their life as status updates. I've seen updates of one being stuck in traffic to ones marriage failing.

I guess what's equally ridiculous is that I fastidiously and diligently check these status updates, like a fly on the wall. Maybe it makes me feel better about my perfect life? LOL.

[unconfessed]

11:03 AM on 09/05/2010

People are way too addicted to social media, she said, as she posted another pointless comment.

[Megan Mae]

11:46 PM on 09/06/2010

That's funny.

[Gibbon2010]

08:52 AM on 09/05/2010

The entire juror selection process makes no sense. They should require all local residents to register specifically for jury duty and then select from that pool....not a voluntary pool like voter registration.

[mamadillo]

08:55 PM on 09/05/2010

In many, if not most, states the jury pool is based on driver's licenses and state ID cards. Still not perfect, but better than voter registrations.

[NightlyMath]

02:15 AM on 09/06/2010

From what I understood, a combination of voter registrations and state ID/driver's licenses are used. This is most likely the most efficient means as assembling a list the majority of Americans based on most recent address. As for requiring local residents to register, that can be difficult in some scenarios such as those dealing with migratory populations like college students and migrant workforces.

[randyjet]

01:17 AM on 09/05/2010

HELL, in Texas they would have given her an award for being a good citizen for doing that. The jurors in Texas are notoriously biased against the defense, unless they are rich.

[Gibbon2010]

08:52 AM on 09/05/2010

Sadly, justice in the US all comes down to how good of a legal defense one can afford.

[timenavagator]

06:02 PM on 09/04/2010

What I find significant about this story is how the Internet is being used to review information about all of us, especially on the social networking sites. It's common practice for employers to search for applicant's profiles online, and I'll bet law enforcement does the same - I would, to know more about prospective jurors.

[squatmunkie]

06:01 PM on 09/04/2010

Are you kidding me? I'd pay the fine, but I would not write some five page essay.

[timenavagator]

06:12 PM on 09/04/2010

And if the "fine" included jail time would you still refuse to write five pages? I doubt it.

[Turukano]

12:41 AM on 09/05/2010

She could have gotten jail time instead. An essay is pretty light.

[born 2b different]

10:47 AM on 09/05/2010

yup. simple cut and paste job.

[Tunghoy]

05:01 PM on 09/04/2010

Since this FB posting was found basically by accident by the son of one of the attorneys, the obvious question is: how often does this sort of thing go undetected (and thus unpunished)? I can't imagine this was the only time it happened.

[timenavagator]

05:32 PM on 09/04/2010

The posting was not discovered by accident as you suggest, the defense attorney's son, who works in his mom's office, searched all the jurors names on the Internet. That's how the FB posting was discovered.

[Tunghoy]

10:33 PM on 09/04/2010

You're right, that's what the article said. To me, what's accidental is that this guy (kid?) thought to do that. Maybe the word should be "uncommon" instead of accidental, but you get my drift -- I have to imagine this wasn't the only juror who's done this sort of thing, just the only one who's been caught.

[josefhiggins]

04:29 PM on 09/04/2010

At least I now have an excuse in getting out of jury duty under the grounds of "compulsive social networks" disorder.

[BlueZoo]

08:08 PM on 09/04/2010

I guess the CSN disorder should fit right in with a Twinkie defense! LOL!

PLEASE don't even try to get out of jury duty! My husband just served two days of jury duty and, when he was called, he was one of 100 jurors who had been called to serve. 72 showed up and over half of those were dismissed for one reason or another. He was shocked to see what the remaining jurors were like and how ticked many were that they had to serve. How can you possibly expect to be judged by people like yourself if you won't serve? You never know when you might need the services of a jury, even in a civil case, and you need to hope there are like-minded people who will be there for you.

[twhiting9275]

03:15 PM on 09/04/2010

Welcome to the internet age, folks, where judgement is made before any trial ever takes place, or is completed. Completely biased juror, should have been removed long before she was.

Gotta love the 'homework' assigned by the judge

[Bounceem]

08:34 PM on 09/04/2010

Oh, people were making uninformed, ignorant judgments long before the internet came along. The Internet has simply helped to document them, and sometimes to tie those judgments to the individuals who made them.

Personally, while it's bad enough that I can probably linked to some of the intemperate remarks I've made in recent years, I'm grateful that so many of the stupid things I thought and did (including photos thereof) when I was 20 have disappeared into the ether, or were never recorded in the first place.

Now, if only there were a reliable means of scrubbing some of them from my own recollection.

[bibimimi]

01:47 PM on 09/04/2010

D'oh! Were you LISTENING to the judge's instruction or were you texting your girlfriend?

[twhiting9275]

03:15 PM on 09/04/2010

Believe it or not, if you're found using a phone in most courtrooms, you're screwed.

[timenavagator]

05:34 PM on 09/04/2010

Where I'm at, ordinary people can't even take a cellphone into a court building.

[Parsifals]

01:05 PM on 09/04/2010

Gossip has always been dangerous. Facebook is gossip at a level that is unprecedented.

[twhiting9275]

03:16 PM on 09/04/2010

If gossip has always been dangerous, and Facebook is unprecedented gossip, what does that make the internet? Facebook isn't the only place this happens, though it's one of the most common ones.

[SteveSFM]

12:59 PM on 09/04/2010

Apparently, this juror watches too much Nancy Grace.

[timenavagator]

05:36 PM on 09/04/2010

That would explain the presumed guilty belief this juror held.

[Bounceem]

08:35 PM on 09/04/2010

ANY Nancy Grace is "too much" Nancy Grace.

[Jazz88105]

12:28 PM on 09/04/2010

She should be writing the essay from a jail cell.