Potential juror in Zimmerman trial lied in court

[davidn3600]

A potential juror at the George Zimmerman trial who told the court he had little knowledge of the case apparently indicated otherwise on Facebook.

"I CAN tell you THIS. 'Justice'…IS Coming," the juror appeared to write of the Zimmerman case on the Facebook page for the "Coffee Party Progressives," a page with which he was confronted in Judge Debra Nelson's courtroom.

The potential juror, assigned the number E7, who described himself as an "underemployed" musician and painter, told the court that he did not have a lot of knowledge about the case when it first happened.

----

When the assistant state attorney, Bernie De La Rionda, first questioned potential juror E7 this morning, he asked whether the prospective juror was exposed to the case in February 2012 or whether he kept up with it. E7 answered, "No."

An ABC News search of the Facebook page revealed that a person resembling E7 wrote on March 21, 2012, the same date as on the court record, an inflammatory comment in response to a posting about the case touting the site www.justicefortrayvonmartin.com. Besides vowing that justice was coming, the Facebook comment apparently by the prospective juror alleged a conspiracy involving Zimmerman and local police.

http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/did-potential-zimmerman-juror-lie-court-034710693.html


It's idiots like this that will end up messing up this trial.

[rucky]

1. stupid, stupid, stupid.

FOX will be all over this.

[orpupilofnature57]

2. +1000 !!!!

Is perjury still illegal ?

[davidn3600]

5. Yep. And he could be in big trouble according to some legal experts

It is a deliberate lie meant to deceive in a official proceeding...that's textbook perjury.

It's up to the state attorney whether they pursue charges. They should in a situation like this in order to send a message. These trials are serious. And clowns like this undermine the whole system of justice.

Florida statute 837.02
"Whoever makes a false statement, which he or she does not believe to be true, under oath in an official proceeding in regard to any material matter, commits a felony of the third degree."

A 3rd degree felony carries a punishment up to 5 years in prison.


Not a smart thing to do!

[former9thward]

46. No, potential jurors being questioned are not under oath.

The jury does not get sworn until the entire jury is picked.

[Duer 157099]

54. I don't think that is true

They swear in the whole jury pool en masse before questioning even begin. At least that's what happened to me when I was on jury duty.

[grok]

3. Dang

Somebody is on the ball!

Actually I think O'Mara found it. the Person's name is now common knowledge. Jerry Counelis.

http://www.clickorlando.com/news/jury-selection-enters-day-3-in-george-zimmerman-murder-trial/-/1637132/20533408/-/dtrlsmz/-/index.html

Yeah, perjury is on the table though i doubt they will bother.

Not surprised the prosecution didn't find it or kept their mouth shut.

https://www.facebook.com/jerry.counelis/photos

[former9thward]

48. Perjury is not on the table.

Potential jurors are not sworn until the beginning of the trial.

[grok]

58. maybe it's called something else then

Lying to the court seems to me should be illegal in some way.

My guess is would be "Contempt of Court" . Something you would be guilty of if you lied to get off Jury duty. A Misdemeanour.

[former9thward]

59. Never prosecuted.

No time or resources. A potential juror would have to be an aggressive first class asshole to get a contempt of court.

[lawwolf]

60. Yes they are

At least in Indiana they are sworn as a group before the questioning starts. The oath they give after being selected is different and has nothing to do with telling the truth because they don't get to say anything after that (except ask questions in some states).

[former9thward]

62. Again, different courts do it differently.

There is no standard. However perjury is rarely prosecuted in any event.

[Hoyt]

4. I bet a few bigoted gun nuts end up on jury.

[premium]

10. As opposed to those that think he's guilty

and won't listen to the evidence?
E-7 already tried and got caught, he had already pronounced him guilty and lied to the court about it.

[Hoyt]

14. Nope. Just talking about those like Zimmerman -- bigoted bullies who loves their guns

because guns allow them to bully/discriminate/intimidate/etc., minorities.

[premium]

15. So you're not ok with gun owners on the jury,

but are ok with bigots who've already pronounced him guilty on the jury?

[Hoyt]

22. I hope the jury is fair. I think fairness will tick off most gun cultists.

Why? Because most gun lovers -- the ones that are attracted to assault type weapons, hi-cap mags, special loads, public toting, promotion of more guns in more places, etc. -- are bigots and are afraid of minorities without guns in reach. That's my experience.

[premium]

23. Ahh Hoyt,

you're so predictable.
I hope he gets a fair trial also.

So what will you say IF he is acquitted, (doubtful)? Will you accept it or will you launch into one of your rants about bigoted gun owners setting him free.
Remember, it takes all 12 jurors to either convict or acquit.

[Nimajneb Nilknarf]

24. Six jurors in Florida criminal cases.

Except for capital murder.

[premium]

25. There's only 6 jurors on a jury in FL? nt.

[Nimajneb Nilknarf]

26. That's right. The Zimmerman trial will have six jurors and four alternates.

HTH

[premium]

28. Didn't know that.

Thanks for the info.

[graham4anything]

29. cool answer. +1

[Nimajneb Nilknarf]

31. Yes, just the kind of answer one might give in order to be certain of being ejected from the jury

pool for cause.

[graham4anything]

32. the cool answer remark was specific to Hoyt's response, not to the juror(in case it wasn't clear)

[Nimajneb Nilknarf]

35. Hoyt's responses, and yours, would surely exclude both of you from the jury for cause.

Sorry if I wasn't clear.

[graham4anything]

36. My writing here would most definitely exclude me because I think he is guilty(and I am juror #8)LOL

I couldn't even begin to argue for Zimmy.
Because nowhere is there anything to suggest Zim's life was in danger and he was told to back off.
We don't need Paul Blart vigilante justice in the USA.

100% guilty and it should be first degree murder not second.
He went premeditated looking for something to use his gun on.

GUILTY.
then sentence to the max.

[Nimajneb Nilknarf]

38. Your opinion that he is guilty is not really the issue, graham4anything. There probably will be

jurors seated who share your opinion, and also people who think Zimmerman is innocent. The point is that all jurors must be open to having their opinion reversed based on evidence.

I don't believe that you are open to that; and that is why you would be excluded from the jury.

[graham4anything]

42. and also the fact that I an not in NJ. In 99.999% of cases, I could be very fair. This one? IDK

And I would hate to sit on the jury, say guilty, and have it overturned later.(like Oliver North's).

[Hoyt]

40. I definitely would be excluded from jury. As far as I am concerned, the moment Zman grabbed his gun

and took off after an unarmed teen who "looked suspicious," he was guilty.

[Nimajneb Nilknarf]

41. And I am sure that you would answer voir dire questions honestly and candidly.

[Hoyt]

56. The defense team for bigoted, gun lover Zimmerman would have excluded me from my written responses.

Further questioning would not be necessary.

I don't care what happened after Zimmerman got out of his car -- as far as I am concerned, he was guilty the minute he identified the unarmed, Black teen as "suspicious," and grabbed his gun.

Unfortunately, I suspect that at least one bigoted, gun loving juror will be selected, and may well hang the jury.

[Jenoch]

43. "That's my experience."

That's your experience where? You have to get out more. You think every gun owner is the same. That is ridiculous.

[Hoyt]

57. Every gun owner that prepares/trains/totes to shoot people is "suspicious" in my mind.

[Jenoch]

66. Every gun owner does not do that. I certainly do not.

My brothers have that training, but they're cops.

[SCVDem]

6. Facebook is evil!

An open id with no restraints. There are already many casualties.

See Altair IV.

[Whisp]

18. it is. I'd worry more about what I'd say and do there

and who can see it and how they use it, than the NSA

[SCVDem]

19. I refuse to get on FB.

Pity that so many response forums are FB only.

[JI7]

63. one person on here was telling me his real name and stuff

about his private life(which i did not need or want to know) while attacking me for not caring about NSA finding that info out.

[Nimajneb Nilknarf]

7. The man was interviewed by the Orlando Sentinel. He said he didn't remember making the Facebook

post in question.

He was dismissed from the jury pool for having a clear bias, and can be written off as forgetful.

Today he looks like more of an ass than a perjurer, in my opinion.

[gvstn]

12. I was listening to the jury selection

During his interview. He clearly wanted to be selected but I give him the benefit of the doubt on remembering his previous post.

I may have posted about Zimmerman or Trayvon a year ago but if you asked me I certainly couldn't say what I posted or even if I ever posted. A year is a long time unless you are personally invested in a particular case. He could have been removed simply on the basis of having watched too much coverage which he did reveal--the Facebook post was just drama for the sake of drama.

[Nimajneb Nilknarf]

13. If he was attempting to make a mole of himself, he proved himself unworthy of even that low task.

I may have posted about Zimmerman or Trayvon a year ago but if you asked me I certainly couldn't say what I posted or even if I ever posted.

However, I am fairly certain that you would remember having formulated a strong opinion around that time, or having one now.

[gvstn]

20. Absolutely

I have a strong opinion that Zimmerman started a fight, got scared and shot Trayvon. He deserves to be convicted of something. No way around that for me.

I'm really surprised how many jurors seem to want to get on this panel. I would think most people would try to avoid a 6 week trial no matter how they felt about a case. Almost every juror is trying to downplay their knowledge of the case. It just seems odd. This guy was fairly transparent, I would have struck him from the prospective jurors well before the facebook post.

[KurtNYC]

8. bring on the Amish potential jurors

[SCVDem]

9. Could the Amish relate to this?

Taking a nighttime walk would seem normal to them I would think.

They would have said hello, pass a few pleasentries and gone their own way.

Or am I wrong about the Amish?

[grok]

21. Not so fast on the amish

The Amish are also used to being watched themselves by self declared "moral-police". probably even being followed.

An Amish may not like it, but he is unlikely to lash out at his follower. Would probably make him look even guiltier in the eyes of his community and his follower.

Not saying saying the Amish have any less emotion then the rest of us, probably worse since they repress it.

Just saying appearance is everything in their community.

.

[madinmaryland]

34. They could just let the Amish Mafia take care of Zimmerman.

[KurtNYC]

55. only works if he has a beard

[Duer 157099]

11. "...that a person resembling E7" WTF

how the hell do you find a facebook page by resemblance?

[grok]

16. that's a lie by the media

to make sound a if they did their homework.. Omara did somehow. and what was mentioned in court made it easy to ANYBODY to backtrack from there merely using google within minutes.

Didn't even need a name.

words mentioned/website in court -->login name --> cross check to real name -->crosscheck to facebook

On the other hand O'Mara would have probably taken hours to go in the reverse direction.. less if the juror didn't even bother to hide his identity anywhere.

[Jenoch]

47. Google image search.

[Duer 157099]

53. Search term = "E7" ??? n/t

[Jenoch]

65. I was thinking of a photograph of the juror.

Are they allowing cameras in the courtroom yet?

[Nimajneb Nilknarf]

71. Yes, cameras are permitted but their use is restricted.

They can't take any images of prospective jurors.

[PennsylvaniaMatt]

17. The problem in this day and age is....

People think that whatever they put on Facebook or Twitter is 100% free speech and protected. This is the case...somewhat. That is not the case if you are a juror in a trial. People think if it is on social media, they are immune from either perjury in this case, or slander or libel in other cases.

[graham4anything]

27. WTF does Person resembling mean???That sounds racist to me. What is resembling?

[Nimajneb Nilknarf]

30. It's ABC News' way of maintaining a veneer of plausible deniability against accusations that they

willfully participated in the public "outing" of an individual as a scumbag in error.

Everyone knows the man's name, where he lives, his status as a live-in lover or wife beater, etc.

[graham4anything]

33. btw, this shows that ALL info is already known on most people, so the culling is really not importan

I can imagine I have said 1000 times I think Zimmy is guilty
So I would assume I would not be allowed to serve

but eventually they have to pick a juror even if 100% heard of a case and ask the jurors to do their civic
service and only give a verdict based on the evidence

however, it only takes one juror (as proven by how many times the mafia guy got a hung jury) to not render a guilty verdict.

[Nimajneb Nilknarf]

37. Culling of people who have already decided the case and unwilling or unable to change their minds

based on the evidence that actually gets presented in court is essential to the integrity of the process.

It is certain that not all of the potential evidence we have read and heard on TV, radio, and the Internet will be presented in the controlled environment of the trial. For example, evidence of Mr. Martin's drug use, affinity for firearms and underage girls, etc. are probably not germane to anything at issue, yet millions of people have had their opinions influenced by them. Someone who could not disregard that data, assuming that it won't be presented in court, would not make a good juror. Nor would someone who simply believes that Zimmerman is guilty based on demographics - A whitish adult man shot and killed an unarmed black teenager, and that's all I need to know (we read just that here on DU multiple times every day).

A good juror must be willing to listen carefully, able to take notes and retain information, and above all open to changing his or her opinion based on what the judge allows to be presented. Very few people don't have opinions about the case. The important thing for a juror is to be able to abandon an opinion when presented with convincing proof that it was not correct.

[graham4anything]

44. btw, I have been on juries. And I can in 99.99999% of the time be swayed by evidence and fair.

but I don't think in this one I could, so I would probably ask to be excused, which then would probably lead to me
being seated as I would be honest up front. That would be ironic.

Because I think the otherside would feel I would be so concerned at not looking biased, that I would overcompensate for Zimmy.

[Nimajneb Nilknarf]

45. To be excused from any jury you need only say "I've made up my mind and it cannot be changed."

That is cause for summary dismissal in any civil or criminal court in any state.

[Jenoch]

49. Your scenario only works on

high profile cases that have been in the news media. Most jury trials are mundane and prospective jurors are unaware of them until they hear testimony.

[Nimajneb Nilknarf]

50. It can work on any trial. One can say "I think the defendant is guilty because of how he looks."

"And my mind cannot be changed."

[Jenoch]

64. I didn't know the

person on trial is always present for jury selection. My father used to say he could get out of jury duty just by says "If he/she wasn't guilty they would not have been arrested."

[graham4anything]

51. I do think that jurors who say that, should the same day be put onto a different jury.

Reason being, it is too easy to get out of sitting.

And if one says this about a specific one, then they really cannot use the same line in a different one, especially one not in the media.

One thing I don't like is, though their names won't be released when picked, they can still be known by filing in and out of the courtroom.

And with cell phones, it is very easy to sneak pix of people in a courtroom, it is too bad they can't fully be anonymous.

Mischief can be done. and anything could end up leading to a mistrial.

I don't know how it isn't guilty as the police told him to back off,

IMHO, zimmy should have copped to a plea.

[Nimajneb Nilknarf]

52. Would you agree that some individuals, due to their temperament, are incapable of rendering good

jury service?

Some people are so prejudiced, or opinionated, or dim-witted, that they simply aren't up to the task.

I've heard of people being excused because of illiteracy.

[hugo_from_TN]

39. Prosecute and jail.

[JI7]

61. Why do people think they can post some shit on FAcebook and people will not find out about it ?

stupid fucking idiot

[NaturalHigh]

67. Surely this idiot has been dismissed.

A couple of days in the clink for contempt of court would seem to be in order.

[Nimajneb Nilknarf]

68. Dismissed George Zimmerman juror escorted from courthouse

One has to admire someone so dedicated to being a jackass.

http://www.cfnews13.com/content/news/cfnews13/news/article.html/content/news/articles/cfn/2013/6/14/george_zimmerman_tri.html

He has taken his Facebook pages offline.

[grok]

69. still there on facebook

Maybe he forgot about this one, I found this one myself.
its 6:30 pm friday. lets see how long it lasts...


https://www.facebook.com/jerry.counelis/photos

[Nimajneb Nilknarf]

70. Annnnnnnnnnnnnnd it's gone.

[bunnies]

72. I thought the potential jurors were supposed to be anonymous?

What the hell happened to that?

[Nimajneb Nilknarf]

73. The judge read aloud the name of a Facebook site that he had posted on, and the date of the post.

He outed himself because his Facebook profile was in his real name with his city of residence.

I believe the judge was annoyed with him because of his duplicity. Once dismissed from the pool, he was no longer a prospective juror.

Now he's just a foole. It's obvious that he was attempting to talk his way onto the jury in order to sabotage the process. His presence would have made an acquittal impossible, regardless of what the evidence indicated.

[bunnies]

74. wow. What a complete idiot.

I cant believe how many people STILL believe facebook exists in a vacuum.

[Nimajneb Nilknarf]

75. Now he's gone public threatening to sue someone for his privacy being breached.

If he had a lick of sense he'd keep his mouth shut and allow people to forget about it.

[bunnies]

76. lol!

his privacy was breached by himself when he posted on facebook! Seriously, Just how dumb can this guy be? He lies in court, then complains about people finding out what he posted on a public website using his own name?! haha! Whats he thinking?

Youre right. He should just shut his mouth and simmer down before he makes himself look even worse. Poor fool.