Story Archive

Excusal Refusal

Keith Cutler of Salisbury, England, was called for jury duty for the Salisbury Crown Court, but thought he had a good reason to be excused. When he applied to the Jury Central Summoning Bureau to say why, his request was refused; to appeal their decision, the notice continued, “you could apply to the resident judge.” The problem: “I am the resident judge,” Cutler said — and he was presiding over the case in question. He was excused. “I would have liked to have done the jury service to see what it was like,” he said later, “and whether I would have liked the judge.” (RC/BBC) ...At least he didn’t already pre-judge the judge before he had all the evidence.