PHOENIX — Jillian Barfield believes she did everything right.
She showed up for jury duty when she was summoned. She answered every question. She sat through five months of the death penalty trial against Franklin Clifton. And she deliberated carefully.
When the trial was over, Barfield went home and searched online since she was no longer blocked from looking up information about the case.
She found an ABC15 report that made her slip into a days-long tailspin.
"It's like going down a roller coaster. My stomach just kind of felt like that kind of experience. It was. I couldn't believe it.”
Watch an extended edit of Jillian Barfield's interview with ABC15 Chief Investigative Reporter Dave Biscobing in the video player above.
During jury selection for the Clifton trial in September 2025, Maricopa County prosecutors singled Barfield out from a panel of dozens of prospective jurors.
Court video obtained by ABC15 shows MCAO spent approximately 20 minutes questioning her alone — far longer than any other juror that afternoon.
After the questioning, MCAO asked Judge Monica Edelstein to strike Barfield from the jury, arguing that her “demeanor” and “body language” made her unfit.
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The judge denied the motion immediately.
Then, without telling the court, without telling the defense, and without telling Barfield, MCAO had detectives run her through the NCIC (a confidential FBI law enforcement database) that only prosecutors and law enforcement can access.
Misuse of the NCIC is a Class 6 felony, according to state statutes.
After learning about the secret investigation, Barfield wrote an email to the court.
FULL INVESTIGATION: Jurors/Investigated
"The use of the NCIC database to investigate me was totally uncalled for, and I believe may have violated my civil rights and the FBI rules for proper use of the database," she wrote. "I feel betrayed as a juror who gave five months of my life to the court system."
Barfield believes she may have been investigated because of her political background. She was a Democrat who unsuccessfully ran for Congress earlier this cycle..
In her own words
On the moment she found out: "It's like going down a roller coaster. My stomach just kind of felt like that kind of experience. It was. I couldn't believe it."
On feeling like the criminal: "I felt like I was being attacked the entire time. The other jurors were looking like, 'What's going on here?'" When asked if she felt like the criminal: "Yes, actually."
On what was done to her: "The use of the NCIC database to investigate me was totally uncalled for, and I believe may have violated my civil rights and the FBI rules for proper use of the database. In any case, I feel betrayed as a juror who gave five months of my life to the court system."
On whether she thinks it was legal: "It shouldn't be legal, if it is."
On the political dimension: "Why did they choose me, unless they knew that I was a political candidate to begin with? That's my question." [MCAO denies her political candidacy had any role.]
On why she is speaking out: "If nobody speaks up, then they're just going to keep doing it."
This digital article was produced with the assistance of AI and based on the reporting and interviews conducted by ABC15 Chief Investigator Dave Biscobing (Dave@abc15.com).
