Reporter tweets photo of juror, mistrial declared
- The "mistrial photo"? My source guesses it is.
A Topeka Capital-Journal reporter live-tweeting a murder trial on Tuesday tweeted a photo that showed a juror, resulting in a mistrial. Kansas Supreme Court rules state that “individual jurors shall not be photographed.” Capital-Journal publisher Gregg Ireland says:
A photo inadvertently was posted that contained the profile of a juror in the background. The Capital-Journal regrets the error and loss of the court’s time. We will use this as a training opportunity for our staff members as they strive to bring information to our readers in digital and print media.
Ann Bush has been live-tweeting the trial. A Romenesko tipster guesses that this photo was responsible for the trial being halted. I’ve left a message for publisher Ireland to get confirmation.
* Juror image in reporter’s live-tweeted photo leads to mistrial
The editor seems to be taking this awfully casually. A “training opportunity”? A journalist sloppily caused a mistrial. This delays some closure to every person involved in the case and to others whose trials will need to be moved to accommodate the new trial. That should be treated as more than a “training opportunity.” Given the Twitter silence by the reporter, I suspect there might be more going on behind the scenes.