A woman was fined $300 in federal court in Norfolk Monday for failing to show up for jury duty last year, as well as multiple “show cause” hearings afterwards.
U.S. District Court Judge Raymond A. Jackson passed down the fine, saying the woman had “put this court through a lot of trouble.”
The juror was initially called for jury duty Oct. 28. When she didn’t appear, the woman was served with a notice to appear for a show cause hearing in January to explain her absence to a judge. But the woman didn’t appear for the January hearing — and failed to appear again for subsequent hearings in March, June and July.
When she didn’t show up for the fifth time, the court put out a warrant in July for the woman’s arrest. The Virginian-Pilot is not naming the woman due to the low-level nature of the offense.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, whose prosecutors work federal cases, couldn’t say how often no show jurors are prosecuted. But the courts across Hampton Roads have expressed difficulties in getting jurors to show up as the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a backlog of jury trials. In June 2021 in Newport News Circuit Court, twelve residents had to answer to a judge when they didn’t show up for jury duty.
The woman’s attorney, Assistant Federal Public Defender Wilfredo Bonilla, said mental health issues — detailed in a doctor’s note filed in court documents — prevented her from getting to court.
But Jackson said the woman had not previously mentioned those issues. Ahead of previous hearings, she told the court that other challenges — including child care, transportation and disability — got in the way of her attendance, Jackson said.
Jackson said the woman should consider herself lucky for facing the $300 fine, saying “it should be $500 for every time (she) wasted the court’s time.”
Ali Sullivan, 757-677-1974, ali.sullivan@virginiamedia.com
