Mack on this

Just before Johnny Maciel took the witness stand Monday at his rape trial, the clerk in Torrance Superior Court Judge Mark Arnold's courtroom let Arnold know that one of the jurors just disclosed that she had looked up a term used in the trial on the Internet. The term, she said, was "macking." This word apparently came up during testimony last week when a defense witness said Maciel told him he was "macking" on the alleged victim.

Juror No. 2 was called out and asked what she found on her search. She said she learned from an urban slang dictionary online that macking referred to committing sexual favors as a reward and is used as a "bravado" statement.

When pressed further by Arnold and defense attorney Eugene Matthews, Juror No. 2 explained that she was a "naturally curious" person, which is why she looked it up. She said the research did not change her opinion about the case, as she had not formed one yet and was waiting until she heard all the evidence.

"This is a whole fascintating thing for me. I've never been involved in something like this," she said.

Well, Arnold said, that's all well and good. But, he asked, remember the instruction at the beginning of the trial where I told you NOT to do any outside research, including using the Internet or dictionaries to look up anything related to the case? Juror No. 2 sat there, stunned. Obviously, she hadn't remembered that standard instruction given at every trial.

Both sides agreed that her actions caused no harm or foul, and she was allowed to remain on the jury ... with a warning to not share what she learned and not do it again.