A juror who sent a Facebook message to a defendant during a trial, then bragged on the social network about being kicked off the jury, is now himself in hot water — and in jail for contempt of court.
Jacob Jock, 29, was given a three-day jail sentence by a Florida judge Thursday.
Jock said the Facebook friend request he sent to Violeta Milerman, charged in an auto negligence case, was a mistake. When Milerman, charged in an auto negligence case, got the message, she notified her attorney, who notified the judge. The judge, in turn, took Jock off the jury.
After that, though, he bragged on Facebook about it, said the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, quoting his Facebook post: "Score ... I got dismissed!! apparently they frown upon sending a friend request to the defendant ... haha."
Circuit judge Nancy Donnellan was not laughing.
"I cannot think of a more insidious threat to the erosion of democracy than citizens who do not care," the judge said after the hearing, in which she found Jock guilty of the misdemeanor of contempt of court.
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