| Jurors 'playing detective' by searching internet costing taxpayer millions |
Costly misconduct by jurors flouting orders forbidding personal research by "playing detective" during criminal trials continues to derail Victoria's justice system.
A five-week County Court trial near its end was recently aborted when possibly two jurors were found to have searched the internet about two accused men.
Judge Jim Montgomery told the 15-member jury this month that some members had "defied" his order at the trial opening not to "go on the internet and look at things".
"Serious amounts of public money are put into these criminal trials," Judge Montgomery said, and revealed that other former jury members were facing criminal charges for such breaches.
"Conducting any legal research about any part of the case is a serious breach of the directive I gave," he said, a warning given by judges to juries before the start of every trial.
Under the Juries Act, a juror must not "make an inquiry for the purposes of obtaining information about a party to a trial or any matter relevant to the trial" except as part of their proper role.
The offence has a maximum fine of more than $17,000.
Police told Fairfax Media last year six offences were recorded of jurors conducting prohibited research during criminal trials between 2011 and 2013.
One juror admitted a charge and was dealt with in 2014 by a magistrate under the court's diversion program, which avoided a formal hearing or criminal record, while prosecutors dropped a charge against a juror who caused a trial discharge by allegedly investigating a legal definition.
Juries commissioner Paul Dore told Fairfax Media there had been about six instances in the past three years where he had asked that an investigation occur for suspected offences.
Mr Dore said he was aware of one continuing investigation.
One notorious example of the damage caused because of outside inquiries by a juror during a lengthy trial was estimated to have cost the taxpayer about $500,000.
As Judge Montgomery said, his and similar trials "take an enormous amount of time" and that the "community pays for all this" when the time of juries, lawyers, professional people, police, corrections officers and court staff is wasted.
Juries are not discharged alone by members' illegal conduct.
Almost 40-year barrister Max Perry was this year just partway through his prosecution opening to a County Court jury freshly empanelled when Judge Claire Quin noted that one member was sound asleep.
The jury was discharged and Mr Perry quipped: "I could have imagined it in the closing address, but it was a bit early during the opening."
With Mark Russell
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