Prosecutor's tweets during rape trial draw court's concern

ST. LOUIS -- A Missouri appeals court is expressing concern about how St. Louis city's top prosecutor used Twitter during the trial of a rape suspect.

A three-judge panel of the Eastern District Missouri Court of Appeals rejected an appeal in the case of David Polk, despite the concerns over the tweets by St. Louis Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce.

Polk was convicted at trial in June 2012 of forcible rape and sodomy for the rape of an 11-year-old girl 20 years earlier. DNA evidence linked him to the crime. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Joyce tweeted some details of the case during the trial.

The appeals court ruling says the prosecutor's use of the social media site raises the risk that a jury could be tainted.