ATLANTA — A potential juror who traveled to the Dominican Republic on a business trip instead of returning to Fulton County court has been ordered to write a 30-page essay on the importance of jury service.
Juror No. 64, appeared before Chief Judge Ural Glanville on Thursday morning alongside her attorney, Dwight Thomas.
The woman explained that after coming to the courthouse last week, she tried to alert jury services about her upcoming plans and even emailed them a copy of her travel itinerary. When she didn’t show up on Monday, Glanville sent Fulton deputies to her grandmother’s home to search for her.
“I didn’t really know I was in violation until the sheriff showed up,” the woman told the judge. “I thought I was following directions.”
Instead of holding her in contempt, which carries a sentence of up to 20 days in jail and a fine of up to $1,000, Glanville ordered the woman to write an essay on the importance of jury service.
The 30-page essay must be written in APA style, with 10 primary sources and 10 secondary sources, the judge told her. It will also be run through a plagiarism-checking software.
The essay is due in three weeks and the woman was ordered to come back to court on Feb. 13 to discuss it with the judge.
“Years ago, people who looked like us couldn’t serve on juries,” Glanville told the juror; both are Black. “It was prohibited.”
No. 64 is not the only juror whose actions have become an issue. She and No. 453 came downtown last week as instructed to watch a four-hour reading of the indictment. But they were no-shows on Monday and Wednesday when their respective jury panels were told to come back and complete their questionnaires before the upcoming RICO trial against rapper Young Thug and more than a dozen alleged “Young Slime Life” gang members.
No. 453 told court officials, who called Wednesday about her whereabouts, that she had left the country. She said she would be back in town Wednesday afternoon and come immediately to the courthouse, though it doesn’t appear she made it on time. Court proceedings on Wednesday ended shortly before 5:30 p.m.
“Send somebody to find her, please,” Glanville instructed a deputy.
Jury consultant Jill Huntley Taylor, who is not involved in this case, said sometimes people don’t understand the process or don’t feel comfortable speaking up about their prior engagements.
“Maybe someone had a pre-planned trip and just didn’t realize that they should say something,” she said. “There are some innocent things that happen with jurors that result in these kinds of situations. But you can’t just not show up if you don’t want to.”
This week, several jurors with pre-paid travel plans have already been excused.
Taylor said there are likely plenty of people who received summonses in this case but didn’t bother coming at all. Jury summons were mailed out to Fulton County residents in late November.
Those who made an effort might get the benefit of the doubt, she said, but that’s entirely up to the judge.
“I think judges can be quite reasonable in a situation like this with that many jurors,” she said. “It could be an innocent mistake or a simple misunderstanding.”
Jury selection is off to a slow start in the case, and the vast majority of those summoned have already asked for hardship exemptions allowing them to be excused from duty. Glanville expects the trial will last six to nine months with 14 defendants being tried simultaneously and hundreds of witnesses expected to be called to testify.
Many of the potential jurors questioned about their hardships so far have expressed concerns they could lose their livelihoods and their homes if required to miss nearly a year of work. Jurors are paid $25 a day for their time, but not until the completion of their service.
“If I don’t work, I don’t make money. I can’t support my daughter and I can’t pay my bills,” a single mother who works three jobs told Glanville. “I certainly can’t do it for $25 a day.”
She was among more than two dozen people excused from jury service Wednesday.
