The attorneys of a Michigan man convicted for murder are requesting a new trial after jurors revealed details of the trial on Facebook, the Detroit Free Press reported.
A jury foreman and another juror went against procedure and disclosed their thoughts about the Mount Clemens case on Facebook as it was being tried, according to the lawyers' motion filed on behalf of 21-year-old Terry Wilson.
The foreman, Harvey Labadie, complained on social media about being summoned for jury duty on May 28. Three days later he suggested he had already made up his mind about the verdict.
"Mr. Labadie makes comments that suggest that he is considering the possible penalty in his decision and that he is already predisposed to a certain verdict," according to the motion obtained by the newspaper. "Those comments were made before deliberations and before the jury reached a verdict."
The lawyers claim that Labadie and the other juror, Gary Ludwig, violated Wilson's right to a fair trial and impartial jury. Wilson, of Clinton Township, was found guilty on June 2 of first-degree murder for shooting his friend to death during an argument in Prince Drewry Park, the Detroit Free Press reported. The comments were discovered the same day of the verdict.
Labadie wrote on Facebook he was "feeling board" while waiting at Macomb County Circuit Court on May 28. He also wrote that those who told him no one gets picked for a jury the first time were "LIARS."
On May 31, the juror revealed his thoughts about Wilson and the murder victim, William Clark.
"Not cool a young man is dead another young man will be in prison for long time maybe," Labadie wrote according to the newspaper.
Ludwig wrote that newspapers had already reported about the trial. He wrote the Facebook comment less than four hours after the verdict was delivered, indicating he had read the newspaper reports before the jury deliberated.
The judge is expected to sentence Wilson to life in prison at his sentencing on June 8, according to the Detroit Free Press.
A mistrial hearing is scheduled for June 16.
