A juror in Gary Mercure's trial was dismissed by the Berkshire Superior Court judge Wednesday for sending a Twitter message.
In a Feb. 9, 2011 photo, Gary Mercure, a former Catholic Priest from the Albany, N.Y. Diocese, stands trial in Berkshire County Massachusetts on charges of raping and molesting two former altar boys in the 1980s, in Pittsfield, Mass. Jury deliberations in the trial were delayed Wednesday after a juror was dismissed for sending a Twitter message.PITTSFIELD, Mass. (AP) — Jury deliberations in the trial of a New York man accused of abusing two boys in Massachusetts while serving as a Roman Catholic priest have been delayed after a juror was dismissed for sending a Twitter message.
The juror in Gary Mercure's trial was dismissed by the Berkshire Superior Court judge Wednesday for sending a tweet that said "I am in contempt of court, de facto if not de jure."
Juror Seth Rogovoy, editor of the magazine Berkshire Living, tells The Berkshire Eagle his tweet had nothing to do with the trial. The judge ruled Rogovoy violated an order barring discussion of the case.
"I never mentioned any of the people (involved): the defendant, the witnesses. I never mentioned the court I was sitting it," Rogovoy said in an interview with the Albany Times-Union.
Rogovoy, who uses his last name as his Twitter handle, had also tweeted on Feb. 3, "Sucks that you can't tweet from the jury box. What's the fun in that?"
His latest post, as of 10:54 a.m. Thursday, reads, "News reports of my getting thrown off a jury for tweeting have seemingly attracted an influx of new followers. Welcome, tweeps!"
Prosecutors allege Mercure raped the boys in the Berkshires in the 1980s while a priest in the Diocese of Albany, N.Y.
Mercure's lawyers say the alleged victims were coached into making abuse claims.