Major Update in ‘Black Swan’ Murder Case Amid Juror Misconduct Probe

Jurors in the “Black Swan Murder Trial” will be questioned by the judge after lawyers for Ashley Benefield alleged juror misconduct.
The 33-year-old ballerina was tried in July for second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of her husband, 58-year-old Douglas Benefield. She was accused of killing Douglas Benefield in a Lakewood Ranch, Florida home in 2020.
The jury delivered a guilty verdict on the lesser offense of manslaughter after deliberating for over six hours.
Judge Stephen Whyte has decided to interview all six jurors based on a motion filed by Ashley Benefield’s lawyers.
Whyte presided over a hearing on the motion on Monday. Ashley Benefield was not present at the proceeding, but she was represented by attorneys Neil Taylor and William Ponall.
The defense alleged that juror No. 15, who participated in deliberations, lied on a questionnaire given to potential jurors during jury selection. The juror claimed to have no experience with domestic violence courts or custody arguments.
Ashley Benefield’s lawyers claimed the juror was served an injunction during a custody battle and was also identified as a victim in several domestic violence cases.
“That is an absolute and direct contradiction to the form that she signed,” Taylor said.
Prosecutors denied the allegations and said there was “no evidence of any intentional deception.”
Assistant State Attorney Suzanne O’Donnell argued the defense was to blame for not being thorough during jury selection.
“You cannot rely solely on a questionnaire, you have to delve into it,” O’Donnell said. “And the record you have shows that the defense did not delve into it.”
The defense also accused an unidentified juror of sneaking a phone into the deliberation room and using it to text updates.
The allegations were based off of comments made on a livestream of the proceedings, including one where a user reportedly claimed, “MY SISTER SNUCK A FLIP PHONE IN, SHE TEXT ME 5-1 GUILTY MAY COMPROMISE ON MANSLAUGHTER.”
Around two minutes after that message was posted, the guilty verdict on the manslaughter charge was delivered.
O’Donnell argued that comments on a livestream were not sufficient evidence to prove that a phone was brought into the deliberation room.
Whyte sided with the defense and agreed to interview the jurors. The questioning will not be done in an open courtroom and it will not be recorded on camera. All jurors will be questioned separately.
Prosecutors and defense will submit questions for the interview and Whyte will do the questioning.
Ashley Benefield’s legal team has also filed a motion for a new trial. In addition to jury misconduct allegations, they allege that prosecutors made “improper and inflammatory remarks” during closing arguments.
Ashley Benefield’s sentencing is scheduled for October 22. She is facing 11 to 30 years in prison.
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