Dear Jury Consultants

I've long argued that nobody should be surprised if something they say online - on a blog, in a chat room, on a discussion forum - turns up in the "real world" somewhere down the road. Yesterday's Los Angeles Times had an article about another example of that truth - jury consultants tracking down info online:

Social networking sites are proving a useful tool in digging up information that can get an unwanted individual struck from a jury, said Marshall Hennington, a clinical psychologist whose Hennington & Associates has offices in Beverly Hills, New York and Miami.

'We're really getting an opportunity to find out where the skeletons are hidden,' he said of jurors who seemed inscrutable in the courtroom.

In a recent murder case, Hennington recalled, a jury candidate denied knowing a fellow potential juror. The consultant discovered on the man's Facebook page that they not only knew each other, they were cousins. That was enough to get the juror dismissed.

Another example was a juror whose online business dealings made her more sympathetic to a patent infringement plaintiff.

Privacy concerns? "This is the 21st Century," people:

As for concerns that the research may invade people's privacy, analysts note that those with social networking sites control their own content.

'If you post something on the Internet for all the world to see, you shouldn't be surprised if all the world sees it,' said Rebecca Jeschke, media coordinator for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which champions technological advances as empowering consumers.

No kidding. So if any jury consultants Google this post in the future, I'll make it easy on them. I do not believe that cops are any more truthful than any other human being. If a cop says something on the stand that sounds unbelievable, I won't believe it. I also believe in a vigorous presumption of innocence and burden of proof. I will not vote to convict someone just because it seems likely they are guilty. I won't vote to execute anyone. I am pro civil plaintiff and pro criminal defendant. That's just how I roll.