Having recently done my own jury duty, I can tell you that the jury pools here in Houston are usually picked several years in advance. No one was cruel enough to pick him with his wife on trial, that's just how the numbers came up, and since he got his notice ages ago, why didn't he just call them to reschedule?
Yates is an inconsiderate twit.
My sympathies on your jury duty. As bad as it is now it is much better than it was fifty years ago. They used to have a bailiff standing outside the jury room to stop the rare black who had a jury summons with "you don't want to be on a jury do you?". Seemed to work every time. You also had to report on Monday and spend the whole week there unless you got put on a jury. Inside the jury assembly room there were only hard benches and a crazy bailiff who wouldn't let your read because you had to listen to him read his bible and preach. Of course then you could park downtown all day for seventy five cents or a dollar. You could get lunch for a dollar. Your jury pay went farther then.