Shirkers From Jury Duty Find Judges Getting Tough

Judge Robert B. Hutson was shocked three weeks ago when he summoned prospective jurors for a trial in North Orange County Municipal Court and found there weren’t enough because so many failed to appear.

The same problem befell Judge Margaret R. Anderson on the same day in the same Fullerton courthouse.

The problem of errant jurors prompted the two judges to crack down on citizens ignoring orders to appear for jury duty, resulting Wednesday in a five-day jail term for an Anaheim man.

A deputy marshal arrested Noe Sandez, 18, at his home Tuesday night. Sandez appeared Wednesday before Hutson, who found him guilty of contempt of court and imposed a five-day sentence in the Orange County Jail.

Sandez “is a hard-working man,” Hutson said Thursday. “He’s apparently working two jobs and just decided that he could not take the time off to participate in our (jury) system. That’s the reason most people give; they’re just too busy to show up.”

It’s an excuse Hutson said he is unwilling to accept. He and Anderson are now calling jurors who fail to appear into court on Fridays for hearings that could lead to further jailings, or fines, for contempt.

“All people deserve the right to a fair and speedy trial, and we have to have jurors to do that,” Hutson said.

In addition, the judge said that no-shows, now estimated to number 20% to 25% of those summoned for jury duty, are unfair to those who do appear.

“If other people come in and they abide by the law, they perform their civic duty, then those other people (who do not) should suffer the consequences of it. There’s no doubt people who do come in and spend long hours on jury service are costing their employers and themselves expense and inconvenience. I don’t think anyone should be spared that. It should be spread around evenly.”

Sandez had trouble seeing things that way, Hutson said.

“He didn’t take it very well at all,” the judge said. “He admitted that he had no excuse and that he did violate the summons by not coming, but he thought five days was a little harsh.”

Tammy L. Beard--who as jury services supervisor in Santa Ana parcels out jurors to the Municipal Courts in Westminster, Fullerton and Santa Ana, and the Superior Courts in Santa Ana--had nothing but cheers for the crackdown by Hutson and Anderson.

Beard said those courts call an average of 13,000 people per month for jury service, taking the names from voter registration and Department of Motor Vehicles lists.

Nearly three-quarters of the jurors wind up “on call” after attending an orientation session, which allows them to call in shortly before noon to see if they will be required later that day or the next day, Beard said.

Her problem is the 20% to 25% of the jurors who don’t show up at all.

Most are never heard from, she said, but some are contacted and say, “I’m not going to do it. You can send the marshal for me, and I’ll pay the fine.” But, Beard said, “We don’t work that way.”

The problem of no-shows “is very disheartening,” she said, “because in the past you knew nothing would be done, no one would go get them, enforce their civic responsibility.”

“But now someone has taken it upon themselves to do something,” she said.