Marcos Breton: Trial boring? Keep your mouth shut on Facebook

Beware what you post on Facebook.

I know a good guy who was bored one day and said so on his Facebook status update.

Now he is in huge trouble with the law.

Arturo Ramirez has five criminal defense attorneys on his tail. He has a Sacramento Superior Court judge in his face. And Facebook? Let's just say Ramirez is not "friends" with them anymore.

My man was a juror during a gang trial last year when he posted that he was bored during the tedium of evidence presentation.

The trial was serious. Reputed Killa Mobb members were charged with beating a young man on Halloween 2008 at a gas station near Arden Fair mall.

Five young men ages 20 to 23 were prosecuted: George Edward Christian, Tommy Bernardo Cornelius Jr., Samuel Kemokai Jr., Demetrius Royster and Xavier Whitfield.

Christian, Cornelius and Kemokai were convicted of attempted murder and mayhem. Royster and Whitfield were convicted of felony assault.

After the convictions, Ramirez's Facebook postings came to light. On one, he stated: "Can it get any more BORING (than) going over piles and piles of (cell) phone records ... uugggghhhhhh."

Deputy District Attorney Jeff Hightower called the comments "completely innocuous." He said they were a "technical violation" of an admonition not to discuss the case but did not reflect "favorably or unfavorably" on the evidence.

No matter. Defense attorneys are pushing to see all of Ramirez's postings to determine if he committed juror misconduct.

On Friday, Ramirez was ordered by Judge Michael P. Kenny to sign a consent form allowing Facebook to turn over his postings. His lawyer appealed, saying the order violates Ramirez's privacy.

"A consent form is voluntary, a court order is not voluntary. It's putting a gun to someone's head," said Ken Rosenfeld, Ramirez's lawyer. "You can't order someone to consent."

This mess has been dragging on for months. Ramirez has said repeatedly that he said nothing prejudicial on Facebook. I believe him and would bet money that his comments will be found to be innocuous.

But until then, he is the proverbial little guy with his hand caught in the wheels of justice. One mindless post about his state of mind – we've all done it on Facebook – and now he's got a judge, lawyers and convicted men eyeballing him.

I've known people who wrote things on Facebook that could have gotten them fired. I've seen people reveal too much information about their families.

Ramirez has unwillingly entered a different dimension of legal trouble for simply stating he was bored. His predicament is a punishment that does not fit the crime and a cautionary tale for all of us addicted to Facebook.

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