The juror, 40-year-old mother of three Joanna Fraill, admitted to contacting the defendant over Facebook and now faces up to two years in prison in what is thought to be the first contempt of court prosecution involving the web, The Guardian reports.
Fraill says that “empathetic feelings” and “considerable parallels” between their lives persuaded her to reach out.
34-year-old Jamie Sewart, the defendant who was acquitted in the earlier, multimillion-dollar drugs case, was also convicted for contempt of court despite denials. Sewart is allegedly responsible for friending Fraill in the first place, knowing that she was a juror on her case during deliberations.
In a Facebook chat dated August 3, 2010, Sewart asked Fraill about one of the charge s. Fraill said she couldn’t get any of the jury members to budge on that particular charge, warning Sewart “pleeeeeese don’t say anything cause jamie they could all miss trial and I will get 4cked to0.”
Their sentences will be announced Thursday.
It hardly needs to be said, but if you’re a jury member, you might want to think through the potential consequences before disclosing confidential court case details over Facebook.
Full Chat Transcript
Facebook chat between juror Joanna Fraill (“Jo Smilie”) and defendant Jamie Sewart on August 3, 2010, courtesy of The Guardian::
18:31:36: Smilie to: Sewart: jamie nice one hun hope u both sort things out ]
18:31:58: Smilie to: Sewart: u should have seen his face
18:33:35: Sewart to: Smilie: i came runnin in i was listenin at the doors ha ha
18:34:26: Smilie to: Sewart: i know [defendant] from somewhere cant think wherre
18:34:27: Sewart to:...
