At the Palm Beach County Courthouse, where May is Juror Appreciation Month, citizens who report for jury service can tap into free Internet access from their smartphones to surf, tweet, text, post and blog. Several years ago, one local juror used an iPhone in just that way — and ended up adding a Palm Beach County manslaughter trial to the growing list of cases tossed because of jurors’ use of electronic communications and social media. To try to reduce such cases, Florida’s Supreme Court this month changed the standard instructions that judges give jurors at the start of trials to include cautions against the use of the Internet and social media. As part of the new instructions, Florida judges are mandated to stress that jurors should not communicate about cases before them using any form of electronic communication. (Read Full Article Here)