The Iowa Court of Appeals says information blogged about a juror is not enough to get a Johnson County man a new murder trial. A reporter for the Cedar Rapids Gazette live-blogged the name and some personal information of a prospective juror during jury selection in the 2013 murder trial of Brandon Dandre Brown.
The reporter quickly deleted the information after being told by the court to remove it. The prospective juror was dismissed and other prospective jurors were told what happened. They did not express concern, and the trial went on. Brown was convicted of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Donelle Lindsey in Iowa City. He appealed the conviction, saying he the jury could not be impartial after the blogging incident.
The Iowa Court of Appeals ruled that Brown failed to show that the jury was biased and that he was prejudiced as a result. It also dismissed claims that the evidence didn’t support his conviction and denied his request for a mistrial.
(Note: This story has been updated to reflect an error in the opinion date issued by the court. The trial occurred in 2013 not 2012.)