Posted on 10/05/2019 4:31:51 AM PDT by Libloather
A 21-year-old Florida man drew a 10-day jail sentence after he overslept and thus missed jury duty at a Palm Beach trial.
Deandre Somerville, 21, originally also faced a year of probation for sleeping in. On Friday his probation was reduced to three months, but he has also been ordered do perform community service, delivering brief speeches on the importance of jury duty each week.
Somerville explained he slept through his alarm and woke up hours later to realize he had missed jury service. He said he did not call the court to let them know what happened because he felt nervous, and he was in a rush to leave for his afternoon job working afterschool programs at the city’s parks and recreation department.
“At work, I was looking on my phone thinking, ‘What’s the worst-case scenario that could happen?’ I thought maybe I would get a fine or something like that,” Somerville said. A police officer showed up at the door of his grandparents' house, where he resides, bringing along a court summons.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Can’t he be released early due to the criminal reforms... or is that solely based on letting “petty” criminals run free.
I was never chosen to be a juror so those hours sitting around with 50 other people was a total waste of my time and theirs.
He already served his time
Yep. Just talking about that yesterday with a lib, telling him how $6 BILLION in Haitian aid money disappeared under the Clinton foundation yet Trumps charity is closed down because he bought a painting for the office. This is addition to Hillarys 110 violations of the espionage act each violation a 10 year jail sentence for a total of 1100 years in prison or life, yet she is constantly propped up as a victim in the media. As my taglline says....
Personally, I think the judge picked the wrong person to send to jail. He seems like a nice kid who’s trying. The community service would have been punishment enough.
Nobody should be forced to do jury duty.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
I’ve been on a few juries. I’m self employed so it was a big disruption to my projects but it is my duty as a citizen so I was glad to do it.
Nobody wants to be on a jury but then they complain because they think the jury got it all wrong.
Huh. He didn’t let his grandparents know he needed to wake up for jury duty? When I was staying with my grandparents they had me up at the crack of dawn doing chores. Saying I HAD to go to jury duty would’ve been a relief!
He has served his time, but he will pay and pay, He now has a record any many potential jobs will be closed to him.
Sure. That’s why I think the judge made a mistake sending him to jail. He seemed to be trying to make something of himself and now may turn out to be a lowlife because of his conviction. Hope not.
More to story?
Is this the first offense? If so, dismiss the charges.
No one should be released from jury duty.
Twenty-one years old and living with his parents = “loser”.
Anyhow, why bother with jury duty any more? The legal system is moot as long as Hillary, Comey, Obama, Jarrett, McCabe, Lerner, Rice, etc., are walking the earth instead of pacing in a very small prison cell.
That Florida man...one day a hero...one day a zero.
What? Its called jury duty for a reason.
“No one should be released from jury duty.”
I get a JD summons now and then, but am usually dismissed without having to show up. I figure Fulton County, GA doesn’t want many old single white men on the jury. One time I actually got called in to the pool, I spotted a neighbor in the room. He is a Democrat. I got dismissed. He remained. I’m sure it was a coincidence.
Is it federal court?
He might qualify for Trump’s “First Step” early release.
Jean Paul can relate.
I’ve served on two juries, one being a pretty horrific child abuse case and another being medical malpractice. Selection day was arduous, However I believe the prosecutor/plaintiff and the defense attorneys were looking for 14 people who could evaluate based on merit and make a sound decision. Applying the law to the case was tough in the abuse case.
As awful as the experience was, I would do it again and am willing to sit through jury selection because more than likely some one in that courtroom needs the 12 people to make a sound decision.
Although I do pray that my employer is one of the parties or I know one of the lawyers before I set foot in the room. :)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.