Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
Are jurors really allowed to be "interviewed" in the US? In the UK, it's "contempt of court" for a juror to discuss details of a trial or their deliberations with ANYONE - even a close family member. Jurors have been imprisoned for doing so.
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AFAIK, you're allowed to discuss anything about the trial with the exception of anything that goes on in the deliberation room. Post trial that is, during the trial I'm not sure where the limits are, although deliberation room discussions are off limits both during and after.
There was a juror who was imprisoned for contacting a defendant via facebook and I recall another case where a juror did research on the net and brought it up during discussions, can't remember what happened in that case though.
What jurors can and cannot discuss has been brought up as a concern in the past, both because they sometimes talk about things they shouldn't which can impact the case (or previous cases) or they don't discuss things they could which some say can lead to added stress/anxiety developing from some of the nastier cases.
With regards to the US, didn't a judge in the US on the recent google/oracle case, warn jurors that whilst they could discus the case they had to bear in mind that what they say could be taken as grounds for a retrial? If so, it's perhaps a good and bad thing that in the UK you can't discuss what goes on in the deliberation room.