People v. Jacobson, 393 P.3d 548

Sandra Jacobson was convicted of vehicular homicide, DUI, and related charges after a fatal collision.
During trial, the court repeatedly and specifically admonished jurors (during voir dire, daily, and the day of the broadcast) to avoid news coverage, TV newscasts, and newspaper/Internet sites.
A local TV station aired and posted an evening news segment during trial that included prejudicial, inadmissible information (prior DUIs, accidents, alleged suspended license, and inflammatory victim statements).
Defense counsel asked the next morning that the court poll the jury about exposure; the trial court declined, citing its prior admonitions, jurors’ affirmative nods, and concern that mentioning the story might prompt jurors to seek it out.
The Colorado Court of Appeals reversed under Harper v. People, holding that polling was required; the Colorado Supreme Court granted certiorari and reviewed whether the trial court abused its discretion.
The Supreme Court (majority) held that because of repetitive, specific admonitions and the limited distribution of the report (one station’s newscast and website), it was not reasonably likely jurors were exposed, so the trial court did not abuse its discretion; convictions were affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (People)	Defendant's Argument (Jacobson)	Held
Whether the trial court abused its discretion by refusing to poll the jury after a prejudicial midtrial news report	Admonitions were repetitive and specific and the report had limited distribution (only one channel’s newscast and website), so there was no reasonable likelihood jurors saw it and polling could be counterproductive	The report contained highly prejudicial, inadmissible material aired during trial; under Harper the court should poll when prejudice is reasonably possible because jurors may inadvertentl y encounter media despite admonitions	The court held no abuse of discretion: with repeated specific admonitions and limited distribution, it was not reasonably believed jurors were exposed; trial court need not poll

Harper v. People, 817 P.2d 77 (Colo. 1991) (establishes three-step test for midtrial publicity: assess potential prejudice, canvass/poll jury if prejudice possible, question exposed jurors individually)
People v. Holmes, 553 P.2d 786 (Colo. 1976) (prior rule presuming jurors follow instructions; Harper rejected this blanket presumption)
United States v. Gaggi, 811 F.2d 47 (2d Cir. 1987) (articulated protocol for addressing juror exposure to extraneous publicity used by Harper)