A potential juror in the Young Thug RICO trial received an unusual punishment after she failed to report for jury duty.
Juror No. 64 appeared before Chief Judge Ural Glanville on Thursday morning after she traveled to the Dominican Republic on business instead of returning to Fulton County court.
The woman explained that she attempted to inform jury services about her plans and emailed a copy of her travel itinerary. However, when she didn’t show up to court on Monday, Glanville sent deputies to her grandmother’s home to look 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.”
The juror told Glanville she travels frequently for work and didn’t see her summons until late December. Jury summons were mailed out to Fulton County residents in late November.
According to The Atlanta-Journal Constitution, Glanville found the juror in contempt for failure to appear for mandatory jury services, which carries a sentence of up to 20 days in jail and a fine of $1,000.
In lieu of jail time and a fine, Glanville ordered the woman to write a 30-page essay on the importance of jury service.
“Years ago, people that looked like us couldn’t serve on juries,” Glanville told the woman, who is Black. “It was prohibited.”
The judge also outlined guidelines for the essay, which must be written in APA style with 10 primary sources and 10 secondary sources. It will be run through a plagiarism checking service and is due in three weeks.
“I think that would be fair under the circumstances because this is that important,” Glanville said. “I’m not picking on you. I’m sorry that you got a little bit of attention in this respect, but the attention is how serious we view this whole aspect of jury service.”
Jury selection began earlier this month for the RICO trial involving Young Thug and over a dozen other alleged Young Slime Life gang members. The trial is expected to last six to nine months, which poses a problem for many potential jurors, who must miss work in return for $25 a day.
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