Convicted child molester Rico Renaldo Edwards is questioning the fairness of his trial in the wake of the social media storm created by a blogger.
“I honestly don’t believe I was given a fair trial on this,” he told the No. 5 Supreme Court yesterday.
“As we saw what took place in terms of what happened on social media and knowing the country we live in and in terms of the jury, I don’t know if they were actually honest in terms of the answers that they gave when they were questioned pertaining to the things that were posted,” he said.
His comments drew reference to a now deleted blog by Stephanie Chase’s Chase Files which referred to Edward’s previous conviction for indecent assault of another 11-year-old boy while he working as a teacher’s aide on January 7, 2016; gave the details of that court case and then linked it to Edwards’ second trial.
The blog was posted across numerous social media platforms and prompted the court to conduct a jury inquiry into whether the jurors had seen/read the posts. That inquiry later resulted in two jurors being excused. (HLE)
Subscribe now to our eNATION edition for the full story.
For the latest stories and breaking news updates download the Nationnews