Article: Jurors say text messages were totally innocent

There were no secret text messages, they both insist.

And no "budding romance."

Shawn Payne and Alba Moreno each smiled and gave dismissive laughs to questions about text messages the two shared as they sat through almost seven weeks of testimony in the wrongful arrest trial brought by the family of a boy accused of murder in 1998.

The jurors, barred from reading or listening to news accounts from the trial, said they looked forward to catching up on stories of allegations made against them.

"It made good news, that's all" said Payne, a suburban schoolteacher. "I'm excited to go back and read the papers. It was crazy."

Two weeks ago, Cook County Judge Randye Kogan brought the trial to a ...

Related newspaper, magazine, and journal articles:

 
 
Newsweek Harper's Magazine The Washington Post Chicago Tribune Crain's Chicago Business PRNewswire Pediatric News The Nation Advertising Age The Economist (US) A FREE trial gives you access to over 80 million articles! Access over 6,500 publications with a FREE trial!