Jury Duty in Perpetuity? Federal Judge Tells Woman She and Her Racist Answers Are an Outrage
A potential juror who made racist statements on her jury questionnaire was dismissed from the death penalty trial of an alleged mob boss on Tuesday, but she will still have to show up in New York federal court.
U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis wasn’t happy with the answers provided by the Brooklyn woman, identified as Juror No. 799, the New York Daily News reports. “This is an outrage, and so are you!” he said, holding up her questionnaire.
Asked to list the three people she least admired, the woman had written, “African-Americans, Hispanics and Haitians,” the story says. When Garaufis questioned her about the statement, she said those people are always in the news for doing something. She also said police are lazy and they use their sirens to bypass traffic jams.
The comments won the woman’s dismissal from the murder trial of Vincent “Vinny Gorgeous” Basciano. But her days in court aren’t over, according to the story. “She’s coming back [today], Thursday and Friday—and until the future, when I am ready to dismiss her,” Garaufis said.
