NEW YORK
The Guardian (United Kingdom)
Reuters in New York
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 8 August 2012
A New York judge found no evidence of juror misconduct during a trial in which a Brooklyn rabbi was acquitted of violating an order barring him from interacting with a young boy who had accused him of sexual molestation.
The Brooklyn district attorney’s office said that on the final day of the four-day trial, the mother of juror No 6 was spotted having a “spirited conversation” with defendant Joel Kolko outside the courtroom.
However, Kings County criminal judge Michael Gerstein held in a July 30 order that he saw no basis for questioning the juror and her mother about possible misconduct.
“The behavior of juror No 6’s mother may easily be characterized as unusual,” Gerstein wrote. “But there has been no showing, let alone a colorable showing, that the mother’s conduct impugned the integrity of the trial process.”
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