Is Jury Bribery as Rare as Our Steaks?
One criticism of the jury system is that jurors are sometimes improperly influenced, threatened, or bribed. Although against the law, jury bribery has occurred - maybe more than we think. Just because the juror or bribing party isn't caught doesn't mean it didn't happen.
SCOTTISH JUROR CORRUPTION
The first prosecution of jury bribery in Scottish history began in 2016. A 62-year-old woman, Catherine Leahy, was convicted and sentenced to six years in prison for taking bribes during a five-month money laundering and drug trafficking trial (does it get any more ironic than this??). During the course of this trial, Leahy accepted over €3,000 while deliberating. After the police received a tip of jury tampering, police bugged her home from September 19, 2016 to September 30, 2016. The decision to carry out surveillance followed a meeting between the Scotland's most senior prosecutor the Lord Advocate and Scotland's most senior judge, the Lord President.
Leahy lived with her 22-year-old son at the time who was originally charged alongside his mother but the charged against him were later dropped. During the surveillance, 31 conversations were recorded including the following:
Son: "Mum, it wasn't just you that got bribed so that now when they come to you, you're a step ahead."
Leahy replied: "There is nothing that can link you with them."
With Leahy as the spokesperson of the trial, the jury acquitted the defendant drug dealer - but the case now faces possible retrial. Although she maintained her innocence throughout her trial and insisted that prison would be too difficult for her as an older woman, Judge Turbull stated that the evidence was clear - she was guilty and she herself told us (through the bug in her home).
UNITED STATES JURY CORRUPTION
In Pittsburgh, a father plead guilty to jury tampering in his own son's case. While his 1-year-old son was on trial for homicide, 67-year-old English Burton followed a juror to their car and approached them on foot at a red light. He explained that he needed the juror's help and proceeded to shout his phone number at the juror. A sheriff's deputy reported seeing this incident and later that week, the case ended in a mistrial.
In 2018, six people were arrested for jury tampering in a double murder trial. Each person had a different role - give names of possible jurors, get money to bribe the jurors, make actual contact with the jurors, and approach the jurors through social media. One of the individuals who contacted a juror through social media was held on $50,000 bond. He sent as least one message to juror offering to pay for a not guilty vote. He was also recorded on jail calls discussing jurors names with defendant in that homicide trial (come on, how dumb can you be?). The defendant and his cell-mate were also believed to have improperly contacted at least one juror.
“This is really an attack on the criminal justice system. Nobody wants this from any side,” Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said. Kleine and public defender Tom Reily both filed a motion for mistrial.
While the trial was rescheduled, the County Attorney considered extra measures to protect the jury. During the trial, the defendant was sentenced to life in prison for murdering a 19-year-old man, as well as three other sentences for weapon charges.
The judge instructed that the jury tampering charges be heard separately in order to give him a fair murder trial. But, it does not appear that he was in fact tried for the jury tampering charges after receiving his life sentence.
(I apologize for using the same photo-meme two weeks in a row, just too good.)
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