WSB's Veronica Waters reports U. S. District Judge Richard Story has ordered a man who was kicked out of the jury pool to show why he shouldn't be held in contempt of court for breaking the rules.

One of the first things judges hammer home to potential and then current jurors is to stay away from any written or broadcast media coverage of the case, and to refrain from discussing the case with anyone. Their opinions about the ongoing case are to be formed solely on what they hear in the courtroom, not what they may research or hear on their own outside the courthouse.

But on the second day of jury selection in Campbell's trial in January, a white man known then only as "Juror #48" came into court for questioning and admitted that he'd read an article which his wife had clipped for him on the ongoing jury selection process. Court documents filed by Judge Story identify the man as Thomas McAndrew. McAndrew admitted to the judge that he knew he was not supposed to have read the article. He said the article had contained names of the potential jurors-a comment which struck observers as odd because no one in the jury pool-including McAndrew-had been referred to in court by name, only by number. McAndrew did not specify what article he had read.

"This is a big deal to me," Story said at the time, declaring that he would excuse the juror but would likely bring him back at a later time to take up the issue.

Judge Story says McAndrew's admission meant he "was not permitted to serve as a juror in this case. The trial that followed lasted seven weeks, and sixteen other citizens were compelled to fulfill their civic duty to serve as finders of fact and to pass upon Defendant's innocence or guilt."

The order says McAndrew must now appear before Story-bringing an attorney if he wants--to "show cause why he should not be held in contempt for his actions, and should not be required to make redress for the cost, burden, and inconvenience his conduct imposed upon the Court, the Government, and, in turn, the public."

Thursday, 23 March 2006