Arkansas death row inmate spared by juror's tweet (Twitter)

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Source: The Guardian

The supreme court in the US state of Arkansas has thrown out a death row inmate's murder conviction because a juror tweeted during court proceedings.

Erickson Dimas-Martinez's attorneys appealed against his 2010 murder conviction because a juror used Twitter despite the judge's instruction not to post on the internet or communicate with anyone about the case. The lawyers complained that another juror slept.

In one tweet, juror Randy Franco 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."

Other tweets by Franco made passing references to the trial, with posts such as "The coffee sucks here" and "Court. Day 5. here we go again".

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/09/arkansas-death-row-tweet