Skip to main content

Jury internet research

Leo Louis Kaczmar, III v. Florida

Updated Nov 12, 2026

In brief

Where it stands
Dismissed

Petition denied.

What it’s about
Leo Louis Kaczmar III asks the Supreme Court to review jury instructions in his death-penalty case, including whether jurors had to be warned not to research the case online and whether his lawyer should have challenged an instruction about an earlier jury’s death recommendation.
Who it affects
The denial ends Kaczmar's request for Supreme Court review without deciding whether the instructions or his lawyer's actions violated his rights.

Summary: written with AI from the case record.

Illustration for Leo Louis Kaczmar, III, Petitioner v. Florida, et al.
Conceptual illustration · AI-generated

What it's about

He argues that limits on interviewing jurors prevent him from showing whether those instructions mattered to the jury, which affects his claim that his lawyer handled the case improperly.

Kaczmar's petition challenged instructions about online research and an earlier jury's death recommendation, and argued that limits on interviewing jurors blocked proof that those instructions mattered.

Question presented

1. Does the Sixth Amendment right to a properly instructed jury and the right to Due Process under the Fifth Amendment include the right to have the jury instructed on the prohibition against using electronic media to investigate the case when every jurisdiction in the United States, state and federal, requires this instruction? 2. Does the failure to properly instruct the jury as outlined above, coupled with the trial court’s refusal to allow jury interviews about the effect of that failure to instruct the jury, obviate the need to satisfy the prejudice requirement under Strickland when such a regime makes an inquiry impossible? 3. Does the failure to object to a prohibited instruction regarding a prior jury’s recommendation of death likewise require a finding of ineffective assistance of counsel when no inquiry on the effect of the instruction on the jury (the prejudice component of Strickland ) is permitted?

Documents

1

Docket activity

7
  • New analysis added

    Nov 12, 2026 · Court records

  • AI analysis generated: Case Briefing

    Nov 12, 2026 · Generated

  • AI analysis generated: Decision Record

    Nov 12, 2026 · Generated

  • New analysis added

    Nov 11, 2026 · Court records

  • Case data updated: summary, question_presented, generation_metadata

    Nov 11, 2026 · Court records

Show 2 more
  • Case data updated: question_presented, extraction_metadata

    Nov 11, 2026 · Court records

  • Brief added: Petition

    Jul 13, 2026 · Court records

Sources

Primary materials plus reporting. Best-effort analysis: this explainer relies on a mix of primary materials and trusted secondary sources. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.

Checked Nov 12, 2026Methodology

Court records and filings

Reporting and analysis