SBI begins probe into Jason Young jury

RALEIGH

Officials say this investigation could take a few days or even weeks. It depends on what the SBI finds out early on.

That investigation could lead to yet another trial for Young, the man tried twice and found guilty of murdering his pregnant wife.

Right now, another trial seems a remote possibility especially if the SBI tracks down the sources of the online comments about jurors and they confess it was all made up.

However, if investigators find that a juror did communicate with the outside world, that juror could be prosecuted for contempt.

That finding would spur more investigation to see if there was any communication back into the jury room from the outside world. If so, that could be grounds for a mistral.

Former prosecutor and long-time defense attorney Karl Knudsen has researched the law and followed the case.

"Given the emotional toll, the financial drain to everybody, the thousands of hours, and probably, at this point, something point something million dollars of public funds expended to try to bring resolution to this, to somehow lose it because somebody didn't follow the rules would just be terrible," said Knudsen.

The foreperson of the young jury told ABC11 that she believes the information in the posts that brought on the investigation was likely fabricated.

There's not just one incident under investigation. There was also another posting on the same website in which a woman claims a juror she saw in public talked about the case but claimed he was unbiased.

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