UPDATE: Lynn Bartels of the Denver Post updates this story, which includes a Colorado Pols mention:
ProgressNow — and, privately, some Republicans — have jumped on the mistake Brauchler made last week when he tweeted during the trial, although the judge had been clear not to do so. Three jurors have been replaced in connection with news stories regarding the judge’s admonishment about the tweet…
…The leftie blog ColoradoPols also mentioned the Brauchler brouhaha. The Post reported that a juror’s husband called the woman during a break last week and began telling her about his tweet, which had been reported on by various media outlets. Jurors had been instructed not to read anything about the trial or talk to each other about it.
“That idiot’s tweeting,” she quoted her husband as saying.
Runyon-Harms said “there’s an open question as to whether the quote, ‘That idiot’s tweeting,’ will follow Brauchler around for a while.”
As we said below, “That Idiot’s Tweeting” is going to be around as long as Brauchler is involved in politics.
—–
The Aurora Theater Shooting Trial took another strange turn on Tuesday when Judge Carlos Samour Jr. dismissed three jurors for misconduct because of concerns that they were reading about the trial and discussing it outside of the courtroom. According to media reports, one particular juror was found to be discussing the boneheaded moves of Arapahoe District Attorney George Brauchler, who was lectured by Judge Samour last week for Tweeting during the trial.
From the Denver Post:
The misconduct came to light mid-morning when one juror — a mother of three who serves in the Air Force and is known publicly only by her juror number, No. 673 — asked to speak to Samour.
Sitting alone in the jury box, she told Samour that she had twice heard another juror talking about news reports on the case. The first came about a week ago, when the juror, No. 872, referenced a story on an unsuccessful motion for a mistrial that the defense made outside the jury’s presence. The second came on Monday, when the juror talked about a story on Brauchler’s tweet [Pols emphasis]…
…Last came [Juror] No. 872, who said she took a call from her husband during a break last week and put it on speaker phone. She said her husband began asking her about Brauchler and telling her about his tweet.
“That idiot’s tweeting,” she quoted her husband as saying. [Pols emphasis]
Brauchler tried to explain to Judge Samour last week that he wasn’t “Tweeting” in court during session — he was actually texting, or something, and inadvertently sent a Tweet. The specifics here always seemed largely irrelevant; as defense attorney Tamara Brady said, “If the prosecution is seeking the execution of a man, perhaps the District Attorney should pay attention to the cross-examination of a mental health expert instead of chatting on social media.”
Judge Samour had long ago banned the use of Twitter during court proceedings, and following Brauchler’s inexcusable gaffe, he also banned text messages in general. Brauchler is an ambitious politician who is widely expected to seek the Republican nomination for Governor in 2018, but this social media mistake could end up critically damaging his chances for higher office — particularly if it ends up playing a role in the trial’s outcome. Brauchler’s Tweet had been “re-tweeted” at least three times before it was erased, and according to yesterday’s hearings, at least one family member of a juror saw the Tweet before Brauchler hit “delete.” This was not a harmless mistake.
Based on yesterday’s hearings, jurors have certainly taken note of Brauchler’s error; we wouldn’t be surprised to see this story become national news now that it has directly impacted the jury. If nothing else, “That Idiot’s Tweeting” is a quote you are certain to see again.
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This trial is bringing back memories of the O.J. trial in the 1990s.
That's a little overboard. In that trial the failure to maintain control over evidence at every stage of the process and poor choices by the prosecution proving their case with the sloppy evidence made it very difficult to get beyond a reasonable doubt. There is no doubt about who did the Aurora theater shooting. Whatever happens Holmes isn't going to walk. Yes, the DA looks like an idiot but since he's a Republican looking to be Guv, that's kind of a silver lining. Had he been willing to accept the life without parole deal that was offered ages ago, all of this never had to happen, including his demonstrating what a stupid schmuck he is.
Overboard?? Depends on some perspective. The O.J. trial dragged on and on forever. This trial has taken two years to get to where things are now. I agree; Holmes won't walk. Otherwise, I've largely tuned out and don't even bother to read the current updates.
I get your analogy to O.J. as far as media coverage, etc., and maybe George Brauchler is starting to resemble Marcia Clark but Carlos Samour is no Lance Ito.
I don;t know enough about courtroom proceedings so maybe an attorney on here can answer this. It looks like jurors were exposed to Brauchler's tweet before he deleted it. What does that mean? Is that grounds for someone to call a mistrial?
Yes overboard because the incompetence in the OJ trial permeated every stage including the initial investigation, starting with evidence tainted from the beginning by sloppy procedure and continuing through the trial on the part of the prosecution, as well as the judge, resulted in the killer going free. In this trial there is no problem with forensic evidence or the presentation of that evidence in court (even if idiots who ought to be paying attention aren’t) and there isn't any question about who the killer is. Sure, the whole dog and pony show never had to happen because life without parole was on offer but there is no possibility the killer will just walk. So I’d say that, while the amount of time and money wasted is appalling, both the magnitude and possible results of incompetence, a killer walking out the door a free man, are not in the same ball park in these two instances.
CHB, a dear friend of mine lost her grandson in the theater shootings. Please don't use the shooter's name as he probably killed so many people largely to see his name in the media. He is the nameless shooter.
My friend is dying, it won't affect her, but there are other families out there. No name, please.
I'm very sorry for your friend but it's simply not reasonable to expect that the trial will be reported on or discussed without mentioning the name of the person on trial. Why single out CHB? The shooter is not nameless no matter how much you'd like him to be. There's not much anyone can do about the families' pain. We can give them justice and that's about it.
I don't post on Twitter anymore, but this joker is constantly going off about political shit. He bashed Hick continuously last year. He loves social media, apparently too much…
There's counselling available if he needs it.
It makes my blood boil when I see the quote from the defense attorney about Brauchler not paying attention when a defendant's life is literally at stake. Even though Holmes doesn't deserve mercy in my book it is disrespectful for Braucher to be so flippant in the courtroom. I don't care if Braucher was tweeting or texting or playing solitaire on his phone. This guy would be a disgrace as gov.
"This guy would be a disgrace as gov." So he's demonstrated. And this is problematic in what way? Should he have the chutzpah to run, this story will dog him all the way to November of '18.
My guess is that the GOP establishment recruits Bob Beauprez to block Brauchler from the nomination in '18.
Both Ways Bob in '18……because the margins of his losses is shrinking!
Brauchler's Tweet was a mistake, and he apologized. It's good to see the left is going to make it easier on him by blowing it out of proportion so nobody cares.
It's sad to see that you may as well be a robot programmed by Fox. Is there really no there there?