KNOX COUNTY, Tenn. — Knox County judges are stressing the importance of showing up to jury duty after a juror failed to show up during a vehicular homicide trial this week. Judges Steve Sword, Hector Sanchez and Scott Green sat down with 10News after that incident. Jury duty is an important sacrifice, they said.
"Our founders knew that our criminal justice system should be founded upon the idea of the citizen juror," Sword said. "We really want to put the power in the hands of our citizens. And you have to make sacrifices to do that."
It can cause major problems if a juror fails to show up in the middle of a trial after they were sworn in, they said.
"If we have a juror who does show up and then is sworn in, and we lose our alternate juror — guess what that results in. A mistrial. And that ultimately puts the trial off for several months, if not a year," said Sanchez.
He said the juror who didn't show up for trial has to sit in the courtroom audience for the rest of the week. He could have fined her up to $500.
When jurors are asked to serve, there is a jury selection process. Prior to the 12 jurors being selected for a trial, they can let the court know if they are unable to serve. Financial hardship and caring for a child or family members are some examples why a person may not be able to serve as a juror.
The judges also said these are valid reasons for being unable to serve on a jury. However, they also said when jurors agree to serve, are selected for a jury and the trial starts — backing out isn't really an option.
Lauren Vassallo is the jury coordinator for Knox County's criminal court. She said the court summons about 500 jurors for each two weeks, and they need over 100 people to fill the juries.
“We understand that people have lives and jobs and so it's difficult," Vassallo said. "So we're always happy to work with them to make this civic duty easier on everybody.”
Vassallo said if you're summoned to jury duty and have a vacation or work obligation, the court can reschedule your duty up to a year out. The court wants to make the process easier for all potential jurors involved, she said.
All of the judges emphasized the importance of this service.
"I personally believe that short of military service, this is the most important service that any of us can do," Green said.