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Queens juror causes mistrial by posting about case on Facebook – Metro US

Queens juror causes mistrial by posting about case on Facebook

Queens juror causes mistrial by posting about case on Facebook
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A Queens juror was fined $1,000 for causing a mistrial after she posted about the robbery case on Facebook.

Kimberly Ellis posted that she was “dying from boredom” during the trial, according to theDaily News,and spilled details about evidence and witnesses in the case.

“God help me,” Ellis wrote on her Facebook page. “The other jurors don’t trust the police and want to outright dismiss the confessions as well as the majority of the rest of the evidence. Tomorrow is going to be a very difficult day.”

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A former federal and Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office prosecutor reportedly spotted the public post and blew the whistle on Ellis.

Queens Supreme Court Justice Ira Margulis scolded Ellis for her actions and said that her decisions not only caused a mistrial, but cost taxpayers thousands of dollars, according to the report.

“We had an interpreter in that case,” Margulis explained in the court transcript. “We have the court reporter, we have the clerk, and everybody else associated with the case and including the district attorney’s time and effort and defense counsel.”

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Ellis, who has worked for JPMorgan Chase for the past 19 years, was quoted in the Daily News saying that she is “absolutely frightened [she] will lose [her] job over this,” and hopes the company will overlook the error in judgement.


“My ex-husband is disabled and I raise my two children,” Ellis said. “I’m afraid this will impact them. I’m very scared.”