Journo Tweet Triggers Mistrial in Kansas Murder Case

The Topeka Capital Journal (Photo credit: Marion Doss)A Topeka (Kan.) Capital Journal reporter's courtroom Tweet about a murder case prompted the judge to declare a mistrial, the daily reported.

One day after the case against 20-year-old Austin Tabor, accused in the 2010 shooting death of 20-year-old Matthew Mitchell, began, the court declared a mistrial because an online image posted by the Capital Journal journalist live-Tweeting the proceedings depicted one or more jurors hearing the case. Rules created by the Kansas Supreme Court bar the photographing of individual jurors.

The presiding judge agreed before the proceedings began to the use of camera phones, but forbade photographing jurors. The Capital Journal apologized for the inadvertent image and said it would use the miscue as a "training opportunity" for staff members.  Prosecutors expect to try Tabor sometime this summer, according to the Capital Journal article.