Should BVI isolate jurors from internet access, public interaction?
Following concerns outlined during the Commission of Inquiry (COI) hearings and the various recommendations outlined in its report, a question has been raised about whether the BVI should now have a provision in its laws that will allow for a sequestered jury.
The act of sequestering entails isolating a jury throughout the course of a trial to prevent them from talking to other people about a court case or from being influenced by social media or the press.
Legislators explored the issue at length as they debated new provisions in the Jury Act, 2022 that is currently before the House of Assembly (HOA). The proposed legislation does not currently make a provision for having a jury sequestered.
Territorial At-Large Representative Neville ‘Sheep’ Smith was particularly concerned about jurors who may potentially comment on online news articles — a term colloquially referred to as blogging. Part of his concern lies in the fact that jurors are able to secretly blog about an ongoing court trial they may be involved in.
“We talk about expanding the jurors’ list, but one of the things that concerned me the most is when we do this, we also open up a room for more people to be a part of this jurors’ list. But there’s something called blogs — the bloggers. I’m wondering how will we control that with the juror list?” Smith said.
He continued: “I think it will be a problem where you have a juror who is a blogger, who’s not using his real name, but sits on a case and is blogging.”
Laws should prevent contact with family
Territorial At-Large Representative Carvin Malone proposed that jurors be sequestered to counter this possibility.
“If you watch enough TV, if you were involved in courts anywhere else, you would find that there’s [sequestering] of jurors in cases where you want to make sure that the jurors are not influenced,” Malone argued.
Malone said the issue of sequestering jurors was an important ingredient that needs to be looked at by legislators but also pointed to the issue of freedom of speech which he said is embedded in the constitution, and should not be taken away as legislators seek to address the problem.
“But when it comes to jury, jury pools, and sequestering, there is a specific condition. I don’t know if it’s allowed in law — take away your WiFi, take away your radio, take away that time off you may have with your particular family because it is critical that you’re not influenced further than you may have been before being chosen as a juror.
Enforcement is a challenge
Health Minister Marlon Penn also weighed in on the issue and questioned how information in certain trials should managed in the public domain.
“The BVI is a small society and our pool of social media connections are very interwoven and intertwined,” Penn said. “We need find a way to ensure that persons are not prejudiced by the fake news, the fake pages that are created on Facebook that spews misinformation, misleading information, [and] the blogs as [Neville Smith] mentioned. I know there are restrictions in place currently… where blogging is restricted for persons who are involved in sex crimes or sex crimes that are before the court.”
Continuing on the subject, Penn also argued that authorities should assess the territory’s capacity to properly police against cyber crime.
“We have the cyber crime act where it prohibits certain behaviours as relates to online activity, slanderous information, slanderous behaviour,” Penn said. “We need to ensure that we have the capacity to enforce those elements to sort of protect persons to ensure that persons have a fair chance to a trial — a fair trial — and to avoid the polluting the minds of the jury with fake information or misleading information while a trial is being conducted.”
Is sequestering practical in the BVI?
And while arguing that sequestering a jury may not be practical in the BVI’s context, Penn said it may well be worth a discussion.
“We also have to be mindful of the age that we’re living in right now. BVI is no more a newspaper society. Everything is done online through social media, through the online means and persons have access to information whether good or bad at their fingertips. And those are some of the challenges that we have to grapple with while we’re putting legislation in place to address some of those issues,” Penn added.
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There have been a few high profile cases in the courts throughout the years. In an effort to limit pre-trial exposure, and exposure of jurors to information during some trials, somewhere along the way in recent years, the courts appears to have began putting pressure on the local online news site to limit publication of some ongoing trials, and disallow comment on others.
To my surprise practically all online news sites, this one included, fell in line and appeared to have acquiesced without much of a fuss which I found quite disturbing.
IMO, it was wrong of the court to infringe upon what should be a free press, and it was wrong and stunning that the press just laid down and played dead. I presume they were more concerned with maintaining their bottom line.
A free press and freedom of expression be darned.
One can understand when the names of minors, rape victims, victims of child molestations, national security issues, or revealing the names of individuals involved in a case that could bring harm their way is limited, but it appears to me the censorship of the press and free speech has gone too far.
The collective press capitulated and that’s not a good development in what should be a democratic society. Rather than capitulating, the press collectively should have been speaking with one voice on this, despite they are competitors, in defense of their right to publish their stories within reason and by extension the rights of their readers to express themselves freely.
After all, if their work is being limited, then they are no longer free to publish what they wish, and will eventually become of a mouth piece for the courts and the government. That should not be.
Now, I said all the above to suggest that rather than attacking the press and free speech, the court should have considered a long time back the possibility of sequestering jurors in the rare highly sensitive cases whereby exposure of the jurors to outside information while the trial is ongoing risk a fair trial.
The BVI community is a small place, whereby it is not a stretch to say most people are familiar with each other or have at least heard the name(s) of someone.
The grapevine is more of a treat to a fair trial than the press or the views express therein. I would be surprised if all potential jurors have not heard of a case before trial because of the very small space we all share.
Sequestering jurors in these rare high profiles cases is preferable than the current apparent restrictions on the press and free speech.
The cost incurred for sequestering jurors during the days or a week over which most of these rare cases are tried is a preferable alternative than continuing to limit the press and the expression of their readers.
It’s judicial overreach imo, and it should end. Sequester jurors as need be, and stop attacking what supposedly should be a free press and those who freely express themselves. The cost to sequester in those rare cases outweighs the cost to limit the free press and the freedom of expression.
We are not Russia, North Korea, Iran, or some other middle eastern country whereby freedom of the press and expression is severely curtailed, and only the voice of the government is heard.
No, we are the BVI whereby it is enshrined in our constitution that we have the right to a free press and freedom of expression. We need to protect those rights before we loose them.
Wow BVI way behind . Wow wow wow
Who is going to take care of my family when I am sequestered? What happens if my loved one gets sick? Will the fees paid to jurors cover salary? Remember, if I have no access to communication, I cannot work at all.
Foolishness. Accountability should be placed on the media outlets allowing certain information or comments to be published. You want to put jurors in jail? Das what isolation sounds like to me. You telling me, if a single mother is serving jury duty, she will not be able to be with her children? Otherwise she will always be exempted from jury duty on that basis. Start thinking outside the box please Sheep.
One of our responsibilities living in a democracy is to appear as jurors if called upon. It’s one of our civic duties living in this free society that we should all take seriously.
While I don’t presume to speak for any court, during jury selection, typically potential jurors are asked(screened) multiple questions to determine if they will be suitable jurors by either side of a case.
If for whatever reason, a person is not suitable, they are typically excused. If an issue arises with a juror during trial, the magistrate/judge will always find a suitable remedy.
Jurors are typically paid a small stipend for their service as jurors, but it’s typically not salary. Remember, you are performing a civic duty as a member of a democratic free society. Rather than having a judge/magistrate determine or faith if accused of some wrong doing, we judge each other in the courts….thus the notion of a jury of our peers.
Mr.Norman, Please help the BVI we are moving backwards on these beautiful Virgin Islands I don’t think there is any hope for a better tomorrow if we keep going the way we are. The Premier doesn’t have what it takes for this job, no experience and he is in this position for his own glory.
If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be … For the poor you will always have with you in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’ (Deuteronomy 15:7-11)
in the BVI exceeds the land surface by more than 100 times so have these jury trials at sea. Rent a small cruise ship for a few weeks, load all the persons involved in the trial aboard(50+) and cruise in the BVI economic zone out of internet/cell phone range for the duration of the trial. Stay at sea until the jury renders a verdict that is accepted by the judge then return to land and discharge all the persons involved in the trial. If the defendant is found guilty then return that person to prison until the sentence hearing is conducted ashore.
There is a pool of citizens not been considered, there are lots of retired per3 out there who still possess sharp minds why not add they to the jury pool.
No cameras at the prison is the temperature gauge for the rest of bvi