Courts Grapple With People Betting on Jury Verdicts

What BBN said about it

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   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThis just in from The Wall Street Journal: courts are wrestling with a new problem, people placing bets on how juries will decide.

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   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThe Journal's Morning Risk Report says wagering on jury trial outcomes is a growing trend, and judges and court officials are now trying to work out how to respond.

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   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorSo strangers are putting money on a verdict while twelve people are still sitting in the room deciding it?

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   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThat is the worry. A jury is supposed to hear only the evidence, and now someone out there has a ticket riding on the answer.

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   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorWhich makes the jurors targets, doesn't it? Anyone with a stake could try to reach them.

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   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThe report doesn't say how widespread it is, only that courts are grappling with it.

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   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThe same briefing says the U.S. is sanctioning the International Criminal Court.

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   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorJury duty is already the one summons nobody wants. Now it comes with a fan base.

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   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorA fan base that never has to sit through the testimony.

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    Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorImagine the juror who just wanted to get home for dinner, and strangers are shouting odds at him.

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    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorHe'd settle for a parking spot.

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    Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorAlso today, a fugitive in Venezuela money laundering cases is headed to federal court in Florida.

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    Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorProsecutors allege bribery schemes, and it's unclear when he was arrested.

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    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorUnclear when, unclear where. Just clear that he's now somewhere with a docket.