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	Juror Dismissed in Mercure Trial The Post-Star February 9, 2011 http://poststar.com/news/local/article_82602634-3475-11e0-9096-001cc4c002e0.html [with video] A juror in the Gary Mercure trial was dismissed from the panel Wednesday morning for posting a comment online. The comment by juror Seth Rogovoy, which was posted on Twitter on Tuesday night, stated, “I am in contempt of court, de facto if not de jure.” The Latin phrase "de facto" means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law," and "de jure" means "in law." Mercure, a former Catholic priest, is accused of raping two altar boys in the Berkshires in the 1980s. He was associate pastor at Our Lady of Annunciation Church in Queensbury at the time, and knew the boys from the Queensbury church. In court, Rogovoy called it a “general statement.” But Berkshire Superior Court Judge John A. Agostini said the comment still violated his order not to discuss the case. Contacted afterward, Rogovoy said he was “certainly not in contempt of court,” and called his missive a “joke that has absolutely nothing to do with this trial in particular or my feelings on the trial.” He added, “but I can understand why the judge might have thought it had.” Rogovoy called his tweet a play on words. Other jurors were reviewed by the judge, and the trial was delayed for about 30 minutes. The case then resumed without incident. The remaining 15 jurors — 12 of whom will chosen to decide the case — are expected to begin deliberating the fate of Mercure later Wednesday. Rogovoy is the editor in chief of Berkshire Living magazine. In an agreement with The Berkshire Eagle of Pittsfield, Mass., The Post-Star is publishing the Eagle's daily reports on the Mercure trial.
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