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Cause of Mental Breakdown: NYC Jury Duty
By
Jen Chung
Published Dec 6, 2004
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Dec 6, 2004
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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Gothamist is all about civic duty, but given how precarious our mental state can be, we're wondering if we'll need to change our medication when we go in for jury duty: Last week, a mistrial was called because the one juror who wanted to acquit the murder defendant had a nervous breakdown. The trial had received a bit of coverage, because Trevor Frederick is accused of almost killing his ex-girlfriend with a knife (her spine was almost severed) as well as "driving" his ex's date "out of [an Upper West Side dorm room] window to his death." When the juror did not show up for deliberation, the judge called her at home; she told the judge she had hives on her feet, ultimately hanging up on the judge when he directed her to return for deliberations. Then the juror's doctor got involved:
The doctor told the judge that not even drugs and a day of rest would get the jumpy juror back in the deliberations room..."The level of medication necessary to make her come back and even be able to face the courtroom . . . would be disabling."
Frederick will probably be retried later on.
Learn more about being a juror at NY Juror. Recently, NYC celebrated "Juror Appreciation Day" with celebrities who have been jurors; Dr. Ruth told the press, "Jury duty is good way to meet men and women, a partner," while Conan O'Brien, who has just waited but was never called to serve on a jury, said, "Bring a big book. It's Russian literature time."
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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