Though apparently trying to avoid jury duty, one Brooklyn woman was sentenced to it indefinitely after making offensive comments about minorities and the NYPD, Tuesday.
When asked in a juror questionnaire to name three people she least admired, the reportedly Asian 20-something wrote, “African-Americans, Hispanics and Haitians,” because “you always hear about them in the news doing something.” And as if that weren’t bad enough, she also stated that she thought New York police officers are lazy.
Upon notification of such response, Federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis, holding up the questionnaire told the woman, known only as Juror 799, “This is an outrage, and so are you!”
She was up for jury duty in the death penalty case of crime boss Vincent Basciano, also known as Vinny Gorgeous.
Outraged by the potential juror’s “obvious” lies to weasel out of service, Garaufis sentenced the woman to indefinite jury duty, saying, “She’s coming back [today], Thursday and Friday - and until the future, when I am ready to dismiss her.”
However, by Wednesday he commuted her sentence and docked her $40-a-day juror pay, and told her, “My ruling was not based in any way upon whether or not you held any racist views. It was apparent you did not tell the truth,” but “you were the only juror who indicated that you had every form of bias imaginable. You were lying to the court in order to be excused.”
He added, “The purpose of this order was to attempt to create some consequences or disincentive for people who intentionally obstruct the court’s ability to empanel a fair and impartial jury.”
