Davie police officer convicted of rape to get new trial-jury forewoman brought a Wikipedia article

[The Straight Story]

Davie police officer convicted of rape to get new trial

FORT LAUDERDALE — A Davie police officer convicted two weeks ago of drugging and raping a family member will get a new trial because the jury forewoman brought a Wikipedia article into deliberations.

Broward Circuit Judge Stanton Kaplan declared a mistrial Wednesday after Fay Mason admitted in court that she had downloaded information about "rape trauma syndrome" and sexual assault from the online encyclopedia and brought it to the jury room Dec. 2 — the same day the jury delivered its verdict.

Mason, of Pembroke Pines, told the judge she didn't think she was doing anything wrong.

"I didn't read about the case in the newspaper or watch anything on TV," Mason said. "To me, I was just looking up a phrase."

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/davie/fl-davie-cop-jurors-query-20101215,0,7056086.story

[enough]

1. The last time I was on jury duty, the judge reiterated several times: "Do not look anything up on

the internet. Do not go to Wikipedia."