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A New Jersey man who was convicted of strangling a former high school classmate before throwing her body off a bridge wants a new trial because of a juror who was dismissed for writing "LMAO" about the case on Facebook.
Liam McAtasney, 21, was convicted of the December 2016 murder of 19-year-old Sarah Stern in Neptune City, N.J., as well as robbery, desecration of human remains, conspiracy to desecrate human remains and hindering apprehension.
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In February, McAtasney was found guilty. Jurors had asked to review a secretly recorded conversation in which the 21-year-old spoke about Stern's death.
Liam McAtasney, 21, was found guilty of murdering Sarah Stern, whose body has never been found. (Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office/Facebook)
Prosecutors alleged he strangled Stern, then dumped her body off a bridge, staging the scene to make it look as though she killed herself. McAtasney worked with Preston Taylor, also a former classmate, to try to steal what they believed was $100,000 in a house owned by Stern's family.
Shortly before McAtasney was found guilty in February, it was discovered a juror wrote a comment on Facebook about being part of the jury.
"Sitting on the jury LMAO," the 21-year-old juror commented on a news article about the case, referring to "laughing my a-- off." The juror, identified as Emily Allen, claimed that it was her 15-year-old sister who posted the comment.
McAtasney's sentencing — which was scheduled for May 24 — has been postponed because of his request for a new trial, according to the Asbury Park Press.
The defense attorney for Liam McAtasney filed a motion for a new trial after the 21-year-old was found guilty of murdering his childhood friend, Sarah Stern. (Patti Sapone/NJ Advance Media via AP, Pool)
Carlos Diaz-Cobo, McAtasney's defense attorney, argued that the juror defied orders to stay off social media, and a mistrial should have been declared.
“To believe that this excused juror’s sister posted the comment belies reality," he wrote in the motion.
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After she allegedly posted the comment to Facebook, Allen reportedly contacted a fellow juror about why she was removed from the trial — another reason Diaz-Cobo cites as a reason for a new trial.
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