Oprah jury finds defendant guilty

Random Gemini posted this a couple days ago about Oprah being called up for Jury duty. The trial is over now and the defendant was found guilty.

A US jury convicted a man of murder after a trial that turned into a media frenzy because TV chat show host Oprah Winfrey was in the jury box. Jurors deliberated for more than two hours before convicting 27-year-old Dion Coleman of first-degree murder in the February 2002 shooting death of 23-year-old Walter Holley.

At the time, I agreed with Random Gemini that this was a great example Oprah was setting in performing her civic duty. I still think that is true, but the article points out a couple of unfortunate side effects of a celebrity juror.

TV cameras shot her every move outside and inside the court building's bustling lobby, and more than a dozen reporters and sketch artists filled many of the seats in the cramped courtroom. "This is not good for the victim's family. This is not about Oprah Winfrey, the fact is a man has been murdered," Ms Winfrey said.

Would it have been better if Oprah had found a way to avoid being on the Jury to prevent the trial from becoming a media circus? If she had she would have probably been castigated in the press for 'getting out of it'. Interesting twist to the story anyway.