June 11, 2015 02:40 PM UTC

"That Idiot's Tweeting"

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• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE: Lynn Bartels of the Denver Post updates this story, which includes a Colorado Pols mention:

ProgressNow — and, privately, some Republicans — have jumped on the mistake Brauchler made last week when he tweeted during the trial, although the judge had been clear not to do so. Three jurors have been replaced in connection with news stories regarding the judge’s admonishment about the tweet…

…The leftie blog ColoradoPols also mentioned the Brauchler brouhaha. The Post reported that a juror’s husband called the woman during a break last week and began telling her about his tweet, which had been reported on by various media outlets. Jurors had been instructed not to read anything about the trial or talk to each other about it.

“That idiot’s tweeting,” she quoted her husband as saying.

Runyon-Harms said “there’s an open question as to whether the quote, ‘That idiot’s tweeting,’ will follow Brauchler around for a while.”

As we said below, “That Idiot’s Tweeting” is going to be around as long as Brauchler is involved in politics.

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The Aurora Theater Shooting Trial took another strange turn on Tuesday when Judge Carlos Samour Jr. dismissed three jurors for misconduct because of concerns that they were reading about the trial and discussing it outside of the courtroom. According to media reports, one particular juror was found to be discussing the boneheaded moves of Arapahoe District Attorney George Brauchler, who was lectured by Judge Samour last week for Tweeting during the trial.

From the Denver Post:

The misconduct came to light mid-morning when one juror — a mother of three who serves in the Air Force and is known publicly only by her juror number, No. 673 — asked to speak to Samour.

Sitting alone in the jury box, she told Samour that she had twice heard another juror talking about news reports on the case. The first came about a week ago, when the juror, No. 872, referenced a story on an unsuccessful motion for a mistrial that the defense made outside the jury’s presence. The second came on Monday, when the juror talked about a story on Brauchler’s tweet [Pols emphasis]…

…Last came [Juror] No. 872, who said she took a call from her husband during a break last week and put it on speaker phone. She said her husband began asking her about Brauchler and telling her about his tweet.

“That idiot’s tweeting,” she quoted her husband as saying. [Pols emphasis]

 

Brauchler tried to explain to Judge Samour last week that he wasn’t “Tweeting” in court during session — he was actually texting, or something, and inadvertently sent a Tweet. The specifics here always seemed largely irrelevant; as defense attorney Tamara Brady said, “If the prosecution is seeking the execution of a man, perhaps the District Attorney should pay attention to the cross-examination of a mental health expert instead of chatting on social media.”

Judge Samour had long ago banned the use of Twitter during court proceedings, and following Brauchler’s inexcusable gaffe, he also banned text messages in general. Brauchler is an ambitious politician who is widely expected to seek the Republican nomination for Governor in 2018, but this social media mistake could end up critically damaging his chances for higher office — particularly if it ends up playing a role in the trial’s outcome. Brauchler’s Tweet had been “re-tweeted” at least three times before it was erased, and according to yesterday’s hearings, at least one family member of a juror saw the Tweet before Brauchler hit “delete.” This was not a harmless mistake.

Based on yesterday’s hearings, jurors have certainly taken note of Brauchler’s error; we wouldn’t be surprised to see this story become national news now that it has directly impacted the jury. If nothing else, “That Idiot’s Tweeting” is a quote you are certain to see again.