36 no-show jurors ordered to appear before a judge
Dec 19, 2017, 10:15 AM
A judge is ordering 36 people in Summit County to appear in court and explain why they didn’t show up for a jury trial, prompting a mistrial in a child rape case.
Each of the no-show jurors is being issued a summons and an order to show cause according to 3rd District Court policy. If they don’t respond to the judge’s summons, a warrant will be issued for their arrest, Utah Courts spokesman Geoff Fattah confirmed Monday.
“The judge will likely ask them to give him a reason why they didn’t respond to jury duty,” Fattah said. “The judge then has the option to throw them back into the jury pool to serve out the remainder of their time window for jury service, or find them in contempt of court.”
Sanctions for contempt of court include a fine, jail time or a class C misdemeanor charge.
Fattah emphasized that having such a high number of jurors skip out is extremely rare.
-Deseret News
