Judge Smacks Down Denver Post
Judge Carlos Samour has scolded the Denver Post for asking to see all of the #theatertrial exhibits admitted into evidence: 鈥淭he Post is the only member of the media that is apparently dissatisfied with the current arrangements and is demanding even more access.鈥
Samour adds that the newspaper is asking for more documents 鈥渟imply because it can.鈥
And then he goes overboard. In his ruling, Samour partially blames the media for the dismissal of three of the the five jurors. Those three were released, not because of media coverage, but because one of the jurors decided to take a call from her husband during a break with the speakerphone on. On the call, the juror鈥檚 husband refers to District Attorney George Brauchler as an 鈥渋diot鈥 for sending out a tweet during trial. The two others heard it.
This is the fault of the juror and her husband (whom, she told the court, she doesn鈥檛 pay any attention to, anyway). This wasn鈥檛 the first time she had spread information from press reports to others on the panel.
The judge blamed the wrong messenger.