It seems that the practice of running criminal background checks on potential jurors by Hamilton County, Ohio prosecutors has prompted a request for a new trial. According to the article, Jurors Checked for Criminal Past:
Timothy Jordan, charged with aggravated murder, asked a judge this week for a new trial on grounds that Allen’s office improperly used computer records at the federal National Crime Information Center to disqualify two black jurors.
Source: TVC Alert
UPDATE (11/30/04) From TVC Alert:
Judge Mark Schweikert denied the defendant’s request for a mistrial in a case that is bringing the practice of performing criminal background checks on jurors to light. The request for a mistrial came after defense counsel learned the prosecutors had used NCIC, the federal criminal records database, to disqualify two African-American jurors. The jurors had lied about their criminal past.