CALIFORNIA
Oakland Tribune
By Tracey Kaplan
@mercurynews.com
mercurynews.com
Posted: 06/27/2012
Judge David A. Cena, two hours into Wednesday’s deliberations, summarily and abruptly ordered the public out of the Will Lynch assault trial courtoom. Only the jury remained, along with the mystery of what legal housekeeping the judge needed to do with such immediacy.
In many such situations, a judge will want to query jurors about whether anyone on the panel violated his orders and researched the controversial case thru media reports or in other ways. It’s also possible that Cena is contemplating replacing a sitting juror with an alternate.
However, 15 minutes later when the public was allowed back in, the judge gave a stern warning to onlookers about them having absolutely no contact with any juror — regardless of how innocent that contact might seem.
“Don’t even say, “So what do you think about the 49ers moving to Santa Clara?”’ said Cena, giving an example that illustrated how no topic with a juror is allowed. “If you do, I will not hesitate to eject anyone no matter how innocent the contact.” The judge did not explain exactly what caused him to clear the courtroom or why he made that particular warning to the returning gallery.
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