Juror dismissed in Bennett murder, alternate juror called in

EPHRATA — A juror in the Chad Bennett murder trial was dismissed for using the Internet to research aspects of the crimes the defendant is charged with.

Bennett is charged in Grant County Superior Court with both first-degree and second-degree murder in connection with the September 2014 homicide of his landlord, 82-year-old Lucille Moore. The jury recently began deliberating Bennett’s fate after about five weeks of testimony, exhibits and arguments presented by the prosecution and defense. This is the second time Bennett had been on trial for Moore's murder, as a previous trial resulted in a mistrial after jurors could not reach a unanimous decision.

On Tuesday morning Grant County Superior Court Judge David Estudillo revealed the presiding juror in the retrial had researched on the Internet what distinguishes first-degree murder, from second-degree murder. The juror printed off her findings and brought them to the court bailiff, who notified Estudillo of what had occurred.

“As I understand it, she has not shared it (her findings) with anyone else. She just brought it to the bailiff’s attention,” Estudillo told the prosecution and defense on Tuesday. “But clearly she violated the cardinal rule that I gave her, and all of them, from the beginning. Don’t go out and look for anything.”

At the offset of the trial Estudillo instructed the jury to not, “read, view, or listen to any report from the newspaper, magazines, social networking websites, blogs, radio or television on the subject of this trial. Do consult dictionaries or other reference materials. Do not conduct any Internet research or consult any other outside sources about any information, issues, or people involved in this case.”

The problem with the actions taken by the juror, Estudillo explained, is they could possibly be used as grounds by an appeals court to overturn a verdict in the future. The prosecution and defense agreed with the judge’s recommendation to dismiss the juror and to call in an alternate juror as a replacement.

“This new piece of information I think is a definite impropriety. She violated the court’s instructions and I do believe she should be nicely discharged,” Bennett’s defense counsel David Bustamante stated.

Per court rules, because a new juror was introduced the jury had to start their deliberations over again and select a new presiding juror.

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.