In the U.S., pocket technology is messing with court procedures

Mobile phones and personal digital assistants like Blackberries and iPhones are creating big problems in American courts, the New York Times reports.

It appears some jurors can't resist going on-line to do research in the middle of trials. This is exasperating judges, lawyers and defendants.

The paper says mistrials have been declared in some high-profile cases because jurors have violated instructions from judges. 

Pocket technology appears to be undermining the judicial process, a process that was developed over hundreds of years and that functions on the basis of clear rules of evidence.

You can read all the details in the New York Times' article: "As Jurors Turn to Web, Mistrials Are Popping Up."