BRB, REACHING VERDICT

New York Murder Verdict Overturned After Juror’s 7,000 Text Messages Were Exposed

The juror’s dad reportedly wrote to her when she was chosen: “Oh lucky you ... Make sure he’s guilty.”

A high-profile New York murder verdict was overturned after the revelation that a juror who voted to convict the suspect had exchanged 7,000 texts with friends and family during the trial. In 2015, a jury convicted former doctor Robert Neulander of killing his wife in their home. The case received a lot of attention in the Syracuse area. That attention appears to have extended to the family and friends of juror Johnna Lorraine, who frequently discussed the case with them, according to a report from The New York Times. Her dad wrote to her when she was chosen for the jury: “Oh lucky you ... Make sure he’s guilty.” Lorraine also received texts during the trial from one friend who called Neulander “scary,” and one from another friend speculating if Neulander's daughter should also be a suspect. A judge ruled in October that Lorraine's conduct was so bad that the conviction of Neulander, 68, should be set aside and that he should get a new trial.