As stated before: Beware of Facebook in Court! What you write, like, and post on social media websites can come back and haunt you . . . especially in a Courtroom. Here’s a great example of a Facebook post caused a mistrial in Miami-Dade:
A Miami-Dade judge declared a mistrial in a murder case Wednesday after defendant Fermin Recalde’s defense attorney, 31 year old Anya Cintron Stern, posted a photo of his leopard-print underwear on Facebook.
Recalde was on trial accused of fatally stabbing his girlfriend, Dora Rial, in Hialeah, Florida in 2010. His family brought him a bag of clothes to wear during trial. When Miami-Dade corrections officers conducted a routine inspection, Cintron Stern snapped a photo of Recalde’s leopard-print briefs with her cellphone.
Cintron Stern later posted the photo on her personal and “private” Facebook page with a caption indicating the client’s family believed the underwear was “proper attire for trial.” Someone who saw the posting notified Miami-Dade Judge Leon Firtel, who declared a mistrial.
Cintron Stern was immediately fired. The decision for a mistrial came after Recalde had previously sought, unsuccessfully, to fire his attorneys.
“In light of what took place in court, where the defendant was present and requested once again that his attorney be replaced, and considering the totality of the circumstances, the court granted that motion and also granted a motion for mistrial,” said Eunice Sigler, court spokeswoman.
Luis Fernandez, PA 