Court Opinion

ID: 3170933
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2016-01-20 20:12:03.532378+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:38:48.795000
License: Public Domain

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT                                     ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE
Timothy P. Broden                                          Gregory F. Zoeller
Lafayette, Indiana                                         Attorney General of Indiana

                                                           James B. Martin
                                                           Deputy Attorney General
                                                           Indianapolis, Indiana
______________________________________________________________________________

                                In the
                        Indiana Supreme Court                                        Jan 20 2016, 2:09 pm

                           _________________________________

                                    No. 79S02-1601-CR-28

KASTIN E. SLAYBAUGH,
                                                           Appellant (Defendant below),

                                              v.

STATE OF INDIANA,
                                                           Appellee (Plaintiff below).

                           _________________________________

               Appeal from the Tippecanoe Superior Court, No. 79D02-1401-FB-01
                            The Honorable Thomas H. Busch, Judge
                            _________________________________

      On Petition to Transfer from the Indiana Court of Appeals, No. 79A02-1411-CR-798
                            _________________________________

                                      January 20, 2016

Per Curiam.

        After Kastin Slaybaugh was convicted of rape, he moved for mistrial on grounds there

had been juror misconduct. His motion asserted that in voir dire, a juror had denied knowing the

victim or her family, but Slaybaugh discovered that a relative of the victim was a “Facebook

friend” of that juror. The trial court ordered the juror deposed. The juror testified she was a
realtor, had more than 1000 “friends” on Facebook—most of whom she had “friended” for

networking purposes—but she had not recognized the victim’s name during voir dire, did not

recognize the victim when she testified, and did not know the victim or her family. The trial

court determined that the juror had been truthful when answering that she had no knowledge of

the victim or her family, and denied Slaybaugh’s motion for mistrial. Noting the novel issue

involving a juror’s “expansive list of Facebook friends,” the Court of Appeals affirmed in

Slaybaugh v. State, ___ N.E.3d ___, ___, 2015 WL 5612205, *1 (Ind. Ct. App. 2015).

       We agree with the result reached by the Court of Appeals, grant transfer, expressly adopt

and incorporate by reference the Court of Appeals opinion in accordance with Indiana Appellate

Rule 58(A)(1), and affirm the trial court.

All Justices concur.

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