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Sponsors seek criminal penalties for juror tampering after social-media incident
Summary
Sponsors told the House Judiciary Committee that HB 478 would add explicit criminal penalties and a new juror definition to Ohio law after a juror received a Facebook message in Ashtabula County; sponsors said the change closes a statutory gap and preserves judges' instruction authority. No vote was taken.
Representative Dave Thomas urged the House Judiciary Committee to pass House Bill 478 to directly criminalize attempts to influence jurors in criminal cases, citing a recent case in Ashtabula County in which a juror received a Facebook message from an associate of a defendant. "There should be a direct stop on tampering or trying to interfere with a criminal case jury," Thomas said in sponsor testimony.
The co-sponsor and ranking member, identified in committee remarks as…
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