What to expect as Neulander case goes back to court for high stakes arguments
September 3rd 2019
"DEWITT N.Y. — It is case number 71 – given that number by The New York State Court of Appeals, the highest court in New York. On Thursday, for 10 minutes each, attorneys on opposite sides of the most high profile murder case in Onondaga County in years will make their cases.
The outcome will determine whether there is a new trial and could also impact how the justice system deals with the age of smartphones and text messages....
The Justices on the Court of Appeals will eventually decide if Neulander should receive a new murder trial or if he should go back to state prison to finish the sentence imposed after his trial in 2015...."
What to expect as Neulander case goes back to court for high stakes arguments
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The Juror Who Exchanged 7,000 Text Messages
THE CONVICTION OF A SYRACUSE DOCTOR FOR MURDERING HIS WIFE HANGS IN THE BALANCE OVER JUROR MISCONDUCT
"It was exactly what the judge warned the jurors not to do.
But that didn't stop juror number 12, Johnna Lorraine, from sending and receiving about 7,000 text messages during a three-week-long murder trial, State v. Neulander, in Syracuse in 2015.1
"Make sure he's guilty," Lorraine's father told her in a text on the first day of trial.
During the trial, a friend asked Lorraine if the defendant was guilty and she replied: "Can't tell."...
DIGITAL AGE
The Hon. Barry Kamins, retired New York Supreme Court judge, who now practices at Aidala, Bertuna & Kamins, said this case brings the digital age directly into the courtroom.
Kamins noted that judges have long been instructing jurors in criminal cases not to discuss it with anyone else. "But for the last ten years, judges have also been instructing jurors not to have any electronic communications, such as texts, internet chats, about the case," said Kamins. "Courts have realized that we're living in a digital age and it's so easy to communicate and be contacted without anyone knowing about it."
Kamins said the Neulander case is one of the first cases in New York that's reached the court of appeals pertaining to digital communications.
"If the court affirms the lower court decision, it's going to send a very strong message to trial courts that you've got to be extra vigilant about this," said Kamins. "People are communicating instantaneously. How can trial judges take more precautions about this? It's a good question.
"I don't think they'll get to the point where they'll require jurors to turn in their cell phones at the beginning of the day and get them back at the end of the day," continued Kamins. "In the end, you have to rely on the good will of the jurors to follow the judge's instruction.""
The Juror Who Exchanged 7,000 Text Messages
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The case of the alleged murder and the texting juror
September 4, 2019
"ALBANY — Call it the case of the texting juror.
After all, she exchanged 7,000 of them while serving at a murder trial and now New York’s highest court has to determine whether her actions poisoned the outcome of a high-profile murder case that had garnered national attention.
It’s a type of 21st Century issue the state Court of Appeals will try to tackle during oral arguments Thursday....
In 2015, a jury convicted Neulander of second-degree murder and tampering with evidence. He was given a sentence of 20-years-to-life.
But then, an alternate juror came forward.
She informed attorneys that “juror 12” had been exchanging telephone texts with third parties throughout the trial and receiving media “alerts” about the proceedings.
At the defense’s request, a judge ordered a search of the phone — which found the juror had exchanged some 7,000 messages with family members and others, according to the Syracuse Post Standard, that she had deleted hundreds or even thousands of exchanges and that she’d lied in sworn affidavit about following jury instructions...."
The case of the alleged murder, texting juror
TIA!
