What’s on your mind not always wise online

Some people can’t resist over sharing on Facebook.

This was true in the case of a local woman who signed on to the social network site after she was selected to serve on a jury that would decide whether a New London woman was guilty of assaulting another woman in a street fight last year.

“Despite all my efforts, I was chosen for jury duty today,” the juror wrote on her status line. “I don’t know how impartial I can be ... that girl looked so guilty! lol.”

A few of her FB friends clicked the “like” button to express approval, but at least one person wondered, with a Web smile :), whether “secret agents” would be checking the juror’s Facebook page.

The “secret agent” comment looked like Internet hyperbole. Exaggerating online is at least as irresistible as over sharing. But sure enough, someone did report the woman’s status update to the court, and on the first day of the trial, the judge dismissed her from the jury.

Whoops! LOL!

The jury found the defendant not guilty of the felony assault charge, but guilty of a lesser, misdemeanor charge.

How about this for a status update: Don’t presume someone guilty before hearing the evidence. And don’t post anything you would not want to have read by a judge or a jury of your peers.