James Holmes trial: Newsweek reporters get banned after revealing juror name

Newsweek reporters have been banned from the Arapahoe County Justice Center, site of the Aurora, Colo., shooting trial, after the magazine published the name of a juror in the James Holmes case online in both a story and a tweet.

A visibly angry Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr., who early in the proceedings ordered the media not to publish or broadcast jurors’ names, said in court Wednesday that Newsweek “should know better. It is really disappointing that something like this happened.”

The issue came to the court’s attention Wednesday afternoon, when Juror 737, the foreman, sent a message to the judge asking to speak with him before the sentencing phase of the trial in the movie theater shooting began.

As the rest of the jury remained out of the courtroom, Juror 737 told Samour and the attorneys that a stranger had tweeted to him over the weekend and attached a link to a Newsweek story that used his first and last names.

Samour regularly warns jurors to avoid all media mentions of the trial. The juror, who survived the Columbine High School shooting, said he did not read the Newsweek piece. He was, however, worried about privacy issues.

“It was just weird to see my name there,” Juror 737 said. “It was not cool.”

Defense attorney Kristen Nelson said the publication of the juror’s name was “obviously a violation” and asked that Newsweek be banned from the courtroom and cited for contempt.

But Samour said he thought a ban would be best: “I think issuing an order preventing Newsweek from being in the courthouse or being on courthouse premises while the proceeding continues is sufficient.”

Newsweek took down the offending items and apologized to the court in a written statement.

“Newsweek mistakenly identified a juror in the Aurora, Colorado trial in an early story and social media post about the verdict against James Holmes on July 17,” said Kira Bindrim, Newsweek managing editor.

“When alerted to the error, Newsweek quickly updated the story to remove the juror’s identity,” she continued. “The social media post was also later deleted. Newsweek very much regrets these errors and respects the court’s decision.”

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