Lawyer: Toss Ark. murder conviction due to tweets

http://ow.ly/7x4gj

An AP article by Andrew DeMillo on Yahoo.com on the news webpage.

This article discusses a motion made subsequent to a murder trial, seeking to overturn a conviction due to the fact that a juror was "Tweeting" during the trial.  The case is was argued today before the Arkansas Supreme Court.

The article states, "Erickson Dimas-Martinez's lawyer told justices the juror was tweeting during her client's 2010 trial for the slaying of Derrick Jefferson, despite the judge's instruction to not to post on the Internet or otherwise or communicate with anyone about the case.

"He's paying more attention to his Twittering than the evidence," said Janice Vaughn with the Arkansas Public DefenderCommission.

In one tweet during the trial, the juror wrote: "Choices to be made. Hearts to be broken...We each define the great line." Less than an hour before the jury announced its verdict, he tweeted: "It's over."

Assistant Attorney General Eileen Harrison defended the judge's decision to not dismiss the juror, saying the tweets were merely about the juror's feelings and not about specifics of the trial."