Facebook: Friend Or Foe? Protecting The Right To A Fair Trial In A World Dominated By Social Media

In an interview before his Spartans were slated to play Duke in the Final Four, Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo unabashedly stated, "I don't think social media is beneficial to any human being on the planet."

Tennessee Supreme Court Justice William C. Koch, Jr. very well may agree with that sentiment after presiding over State v. Smith, 418 S.W.3d 38 (Tenn. 2013), in which the defendant challenged his right to a fair trial after a juror communicated over Facebook with the State's assistant medical examiner during trial.

Following the death of woman with whom he had been living, William Darelle Smith was charged with first degree murder. As part of its case, the State offered the testimony of Dr. Adele Lewis, the assistant medical examiner who performed the autopsy on the victim's body. While the trial itself proceeded without incident, approximately one hour after jury deliberations began, the trial judge received the following e-mail from Dr. Lewis about communications she had had with a juror following her testimony:

Judge Norman,

I can't send you actual copies of the emails since Facebook is blocked from my computer here at work, but here is a transcript:

Scott Mitchell: "A-dele!! I thought you did a great job today on the witness stand...I was in the jury...not sure if you recognized me or not!! You really explained things so great!!"

Adele Maurer Lewis: "I was thinking that was you. There is a risk of a mistrial if that gets out."

Scott Mitchell: "I know...I didn't say anything about you...there are 3 of us on the jury from Vandy and one is a physician (cardiologist) so you may know him as well. It has been an interesting case to say the least."

I regret responding to his email at all, but regardless I felt that this was a fairly serious violation of his responsibilities as a juror and that I needed to make you and [G]eneral Miller aware. I did not recognize the above-referenced cardiologist or any other jurors.

Adele Lewis, MD

State v. Smith, 2015 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 5, *6-*7 (Tenn. Crim. App. Jan. 7, 2015).

Dr. Lewis had trained at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and several of the jurors, including Juror Mitchell, worked at Vanderbilt. During voir dire, however, none of the jurors were ever asked if they knew Dr. Lewis.

The trial judge informed the attorneys of Dr. Lewis's e-mail, and soon thereafter the jury returned to the courtroom, announcing that it found Smith guilty of first degree murder. The trial...