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Murder trial juror found guilty of contempt of court for looking up case on the Internet

 
Published June 12, 2015

LARGO — A juror in a murder trial has been found guilty of criminal contempt for lying about whether he had done research on the case he was helping to decide.

Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Cynthia Newton on Friday ordered Robert Aronovitz to perform 200 hours of community service. If he does not, he could be sent to the Pinellas County Jail for up to four months.

"It's no small matter what has occurred here Mr. Aronovitz, and its a very, very significant taxpayer expense," Newton said.

"Thank you so much for your understanding," Aronovitz said. He would not comment further to reporters.

Because Aronovitz admitted to other jurors last month that he had done Internet research on the murder case they were deciding, in violation of the judge's instructions, she declared a mistrial. That easily cost the taxpayers $70,000 and the case must be tried again, Newton said Friday.

She said that if he had acted differently -- admitted to the research before deliberations began -- the trial could still have gone on. Aronovitz, 56, was among 12 jurors who were discussing whether to convict Ronnie Betts of first-degree murder in a trial in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court last month.

During the deliberations of that trial, the jurors had come back into court and said they were unable to reach a verdict. Judge Cynthia Newton read a standard instruction urging them to review each others' opinions and try again.

After returning to the jury room, Aronovitz said he had recently looked up the Betts case on the Internet, and discovered there had been a previous trial in the case, and jurors that time had been unable to reach a verdict.

The research was done before the jury had started deliberating. Therefore, Judge Newton said on Friday, if he had admitted to it, she could have substituted an alternate juror and the trial would have gone on. Instead, she said, she had no choice but to declare a mistrial.

Judges routinely remind jurors not to read news coverage or do research on the case before them, because jurors are supposed to listen to evidence presented in court, and not base their decisions on anything they might learn outside of court. Judges also ask jurors to say whether they have abided by these instructions.

Betts, 26, is now awaiting his third trial. He is accused in the March 2011 home invasion shooting of 27-year-old Ebony Stewart at 1036 19th St. S, St. Petersburg.