Facebook Juror Faces Prison For Contempt Of Court

A juror who used social network Facebook to communicate with one of the defendants in a £6 million drugs trial has been found guilty of contempt of court.

Joanne Fraill admitted using the social networking site to contact Jamie Sewart, who had been acquitted in the case, because she felt “empathetic” and saw “considerable parallels” between their lives. Fraill now faces up to two years in prison, and Sewart has also been found in contempt – although she will not be jailed as she has a three-year-old child.

Lord chief justice Lord Judge, who heard the case along with Mr Justice Ouseley and Mr Justice Holroyde, will announce Fraill and Sewart’s sentences on Thursday.

Contempt of court using the Internet

This is believed to be the UK’s first prosecution for contempt of court involving the Internet. After accepting Fraill’s friend request, Sewart asked her in a Facebook chat on 3 August “What’s happenin with the other charge??” Fraill, using the pseudonym ‘Jo Smilie’,  replied: “Can’t get anyone to go either no one budging pleeeeeease don’t say anything cause jamie they could miss trial and I will be 4cked too.”

Sewart went on to thank Fraill for the jury’s decision to acquit her, adding: “Keep in touch and I’ll get u a nice pressie…” However, the next morning Sewart confessed to her solicitor that she had been contacted by Fraill, and the judge stopped the case.

Fraill sobbed and rocked back and forth as details of her Facebook conversation were read out in the high court. Peter Wright QC, who acted on behalf of Fraill, said she was “distraught and inconsolable” at what had happened and “terrified” at the prospect of imprisonment.

“Her conduct, though reprehensible, was not calculated or designed by her to subvert the trial process, although it is conceded that that was an inevitable consequence of it,” Wright added.

One of the other defendants in the case, convicted drug dealer Gary Knox, is now appealing against his conviction on the basis of alleged jury misconduct. His appeal will also be heard by Lord Judge. If Knox is acquitted, then Fraill could face further sanctions.

New media and the law

This is not the first time that a juror has disrupted a case through their use of social networks. Back in November 2008, a woman was dismissed from a trial after posting details of the case on Facebook and then asking friends if they thought the defendants were guilty. After the juror’s actions were discovered through an anonymous tip-off, the woman was removed from the case.

Lord Judge is expected to announce new guidelines, restricting jurors’ use of the Internet. This is likely to lead to more contempt of court prosecutions in the future.

Lord Judge has also been actively involved with decisions about the use of new media in legal situations. At the end of last year he gave journalists the green light to use Twitter during court proceedings, as long as their tweets do not interfere with the judicial process.

Meanwhile, Facebook was used for the first time to deliver a court order in March, after a solicitor exhausted all conventional ways of trying to contact the defendant. “It is great to see that the Courts are willing to embrace new technology,” solicitor Hilary Thorpe said in a statement.