NJ: Mistrial declared because jurors used cell phones during trial.

A Superior Court judge today declared a mistrial in the case of an Elizabeth man accused of fatally shooting a middle school boy in 2007, and jury selection is scheduled to begin today for a new trial.

Union County Superior Court Judge Joseph Perfilio questioned jurors individually today after one juror told him that some members of the panel viewed press coverage of the homicide trial of Edariel Melendez. On Thursday, while in the jury room, a handful of jurors viewed a Star-Ledger article about the Melendez trial posted on NJ.com, the juror told the judge. The post on the newspaper’s website was viewed using a cell phone, the juror said.

While most jurors admitted to having glanced briefly at the article, none would identify who owned the cell phone, and one member said there were two cell phones involved.

Link:
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/05/mistrial_declared_after_jurors.html