Murder Sentencing Delayed After Questions Arise Over Juror's Tweets

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A man convicted of murdering a 13-year-old girl was supposed to be sentenced on Friday. Instead, a judge must now decide if a juror's social media account is evidence of misconduct that could grant a new trial.

Ryan Roberts was convicted for the murder of Jessica Funk-Haslam, who was found dead in a baseball dugout.

His attorney says she is concerned her client may not have gotten a fair trial based on what the jury foreperson posted to a private Twitter account.

But that foreperson, Nancy Daley, came out swinging on Friday, saying she did nothing wrong.

"I completely deny that I did anything wrong. I didn't do anything wrong," she said. "I was tweeting during breaks, when I was at home."

Roberts' attorney filed a motion claiming Daley, known as Juror No. 4, "violated the court's order to refrain from discussing the case outside juror deliberations, when she posted numerous messages on social media, specifically Twitter."

She was referring to Tweets that appeared on Daley's feed about being in court, but not necessarily about her role or the case specifically, until this one.

Defense attorney Michael Wise is not representing Roberts, but has filed similar motions in other cases.

"Jurors need to follow the rules," he said.

He says jurors posting anything related to jury duty can invite outside comment and influence. He said Daley's Tweet is particularly concerned.

"There is one concern where a juror, at least appears to be refusing to deliberate, and refusing to participate in the deliberative process. That violates the rules," he said.

Daley has a simple explanation for what she said.

"When I said I was done debating for the day, it meant we had been working so hard that we had come to a just resolution," she said.

Tammy Roberts, who insists her son is innocent, says she believes he didn't get a fair trial.

"What it indicates to me is very early on perhaps she had already decided, and further debate was unnecessary," she said.

Daley says she regrets one thing.

"I regret that this is their best appeal, because that puts me in the crosshairs," she said.

Daley says she has nothing to hide, but will consult a lawyer if she's asked to hand over her Twitter account information.