Jury count doesn't add up

A mistake by a bailiff in a Houston courtroom led to a murder trial being declared a mistrial, reports UPI. It was only after all the testimony had been heard, the jury had deliberated and the verdict was being given that the judge noticed there was one jury member too many...

A man sitting in the public gallery of an Australian courtroom was lucky not to be charged with contempt after his mobile phone went off in court, reports the Metro.  His choice of ringtone was particularly unfortunate, because for around 20 seconds the sounds of a woman in the throes of pleasure echoed around the silent courtroom until the embarrassed man finally managed to turn his phone off. 

 

 

 

A 25-year-old man from Oregon went AWOL from jury service after only half a day in court, reports the Oregonian.  The irate judge issued an arrest warrant for her missing juror on charges of contempt.  When the police finally caught up with him, Grant Faber excused his actions by explaining that he had been “extremely bored.”

 

 

 

A 38-year-old man who was on trial for burglary in San Diego took rather drastic steps to ensure his request for a mistrial was granted, reports the Metro.  After his initial request was rejected by the judge, Weusi McGowan brought a bag of his own faeces to the courtroom, which he proceeded to rub on his defence attorney and throw at the jury.  The judge declared a mistrial and McGowan was assigned a new lawyer.

 

 

 

When is a yawn not a yawn?

When Clifton Williams yawned loudly from the public gallery just as a St. Louis judge was passing sentence, the judge decided that his actions were not merely a yawn but were in fact "a loud and boisterous attempt to disrupt the proceedings", reports the Metro. Williams was only actually in court to hear his cousin be sentenced for drugs offences, but now faces up to six months in jail for contempt. 

 

 

 

Duct tape is judge's weapon of choice
A judge in Ohio, frustrated with constant interruptions from a defendant, warned him that if the disruption continued, he would have his mouth taped up, reports the Times. Sadly, defendant Harry Brown didn't take the judge's warning too seriously, and after yet another interruption the bailiff taped up his mouth with duct tape. 

 

 

 

A trial at the Old Bailey had to be temporarily suspended after a female juror became inadvertently distracted, reports the Sun. Sitting opposite the juror in the raised public gallery was a transsexual who had dressed in a skirt, but forgotten that women generally wear underwear and cross their legs when seated.....

 

 

 

An American man, desperate to avoid jury duty, tried to make himself as undesirable as possible for jury selection, reports the Metro. In his pre-selection questionnaire and interview, Daniel Ellis declared himself to be racist, homophobic and a liar. Unfortunately for Ellis, the judge saw through his tactics and he found himself facing possible perjury charges.

 

 

 

A judge in Colorado has come up with an unusual punishment for people who break noise pollution laws by playing loud music, reports cbs4denver.com.  The guilty party, who is usually a young adult, has to sit for one hour and listen to music such as Dolly Parton and Karen Carpenter being played loudly in the courtroom.