A trial juror who downloaded rape information from the Internet during an overnight jury adjournment has caused a British appeals court to throw out a rape conviction and order a new trial.
The three senior judges on the appeals court found the conviction was "unsafe" thanks to the "introduction of extraneous material" into the jury room while the jury was still deliberating its verdict in the trial, according to British newspaper reports February 16.
"Just as a juror should not speak about a case to anyone other than another juror, and for precisely the same reason of principle, he or she should not conduct private research for information which may have a bearing on the trial," said appeals court Lord Justice Judge, after the conviction was thrown out.
"The Internet has many benefits and we do not mean to diminish its value," Judge continued. "It can, however, provide material which may influence a juror's views. If used for research purposes during the trial it can just as easily influence the juror's mind as a discussion with a friend or neighbour. And if so, the verdict is no more a true verdict according to the evidence than a verdict in which one or more members of the jury have taken account of something said to them out of court."
The unnamed defendant was convicted in November 2003 in Canterbury Crown Court, but reports in the British press indicated a jury bailiff found the downloaded documents—one said to describe feminist positions on rape, the other from the Colchester Rape Crisis Line—in the jury room, which caused an appeal and the appeals court's finding that the documents were brought in before a verdict was reached.
It is not yet known whether this is the first time Internet research has caused any court to reject or overturn any trial verdict.
