Federal Judiciary

CORRALLING WAYWARD JURORS
By Mark Thompson
markthomp@yahoo.com
Posted 1-23-08

Last year, the Appellate Division reversed a Manhattan judge for coming down too hard on a juror who the judge believed was trying to finagle his way off a jury. Last week, the appellate court reversed New York County Supreme Court Justice Lewis Bart Stone for cutting a possibly malingering juror way too much slack.

After a four-day jury trial, in which Daniel Capellan and Julio Santos were charged with selling drugs, one of the jurors called in sick on the day that deliberations were to begin. A friend of his called the court the next day to say he was still afflicted with the unexplained ailment. Stone sent court officers to his apartment, but the juror did not answer the door, explaining to Stone in a phone call later that day that he had been in the bathroom and hadn’t heard the knock. He also said it was “highly unlikely” that he would be able to make it the next day, a Friday before a holiday weekend. Stone responded by questioning the other jurors about whether they would still be available the next Tuesday. One responded that he worked for JP Morgan Bank and really needed to return to work the next week to attend to certain unspecified “deals,” a revelation that prompted Stone to declare a mistrial.

Full post as published by Judicial Reports on January 23, 2008 (boomark / email).