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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDenver woman brags about faking mental disorder to avoid jury duty on radio show, gets arrested
Denver woman brags about faking mental disorder to avoid jury duty on radio show, gets arrested
A crafty cosmetologist is facing a possible jail sentence after wearing hair curlers, clown makeup and mismatched shoes to jury duty then claiming a mental disorder and bragging about the stunt on the radio.
Susan Cole, a beautician and Mary Kay cosmetics saleswoman from Denver, was booked Thursday morning on felony charges of first-degree perjury and attempt to influence a public servant, prosecutors said.
If convicted, she faces a maximum of six years in prison on each charge.
Cole, 57, concocted her elaborate story to wriggle out of jury service last June, prosecutors said.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/denver-woman-brags-faking-mental-disorder-avoid-jury-duty-radio-show-arrested-article-1.1048958#ixzz1pwtVlmUh
ChairmanAgnostic
(28,017 posts)All she had to do was to show her rampant stupidity, and the attorneys very likely would have struck her from duty.
SamG
(535 posts)jury trial.
And 6 days in prison on each count.
I don't want people like this clogging up our prisons, but a few days there will help her be honest for the rest of her life.
If she had done jury duty she could have lost a lot of income. You realize that a lot of people today are a paycheck away from disaster, and jury duty doesn't come close to compensating you for the loss of your pay. Cosmetologists aren't exactly rolling in dough, and if she's a Mary Kay consultant she has no employer that's going to back her up on this. Every day is a struggle for 99% of Mary Kay reps - jury duty ruins their ability to get sales, and that hits you in your rent, food, etc.
Okay so I hear she's a wingnut, still though, she's most likely one of the 99% - any one of us could get called in. It's potentially ruinous in a financial sense. We can't just ignore that. You squeeze someone between not making rent or not having food and going to jail over jury duty, they're going to gamble on getting food and rent.
The jury duty system is broken and it needs to be fixed.
Leftist Agitator
(2,759 posts)Tell the judge and attorneys that you will not believe any of the testimony of police officers, because they are trained professional liars.
OriginalGeek
(12,132 posts)Can't you claim financial hardship? I gather if she is a cosmetologist she is self-employed. Hell, you don't even have to go in to do that - it's something you can fill out and mail in right from the summons for jury duty.*
Where is taterguy when you need him? This lady was a....
*in Florida anyway - maybe CO is different...still, there are usually any number of legal, legitimate ways to be excused...
Duer 157099
(17,742 posts)To tell the judge anything means you have to actually get called into a courtroom, then wait for hours or days for your number to be called before anybody actually asks you anything. You could spend a whole week at the courthouse before that happened.
I think you can make hardship claim either by mail or by showing up the first day and filling out a form.
SamG
(535 posts)the jury system is getting honest jurors, jury duty supported by their employers, and self-employed people planning for the 1 in 15 chance that they will ever serve on a jury for more than a day of their lives.
If you have financial hardship with extended, (more than 2 day) jury service, say so.
That is enough to get you out of it in most states.
Few brain surgeons, or other doctors, actually serve on juries.
If you run your own business, what happens when you go into the hospital for two weeks? Do you go bankrupt? I doubt it.
Only one in 100 trials take longer than two weeks.
Most of those trials are filled with juries of housewives, retired folks, unemployed, government employees, or employees of large corporations that pay their employees for more than two weeks of service on juries,
Bottom line: only about 190 trials in the USA each year take longer than two weeks.
Zalatix
(8,994 posts)But when you are just a lowly Mary Kay rep, even a DAY of jury duty can really set you back when you're one of the 99%. And since you mentioned being hospitalized, well that can be even worse since Mary Kay reps don't have company-provided health insurance. Only certain Sales Directors are up-line enough to survive on residuals, but I know some Directors (DIQ and beyond) - you know ones who get the Pink Cadillacs (well, now they're doing Toyotas, Chevys, and are looking at Mustangs, too)? Well, the lower-end ones also have to maintain their downlines on a weekly or even daily basis, because their downlines keep quitting, getting cold feet, etc. Jury duty can really mess up someone like that.
And don't be married with both of you struggling to make ends meet. The judge will laugh at your excuse, at least they consistently do in California. In that case you better hope one of you works for a boss that'll support you.
The first step to fixing jury duty is making sure that people don't lose income every day that they serve.
SamG
(535 posts)when you are just a lowly Mary Kay rep, you are NOT serving America, you are making money off the futile wishes of women who think looks make a difference in character.\\
"The first step to fixing jury duty is making sure that people don't lose income every day that they serve."
Of course, for you, it's all about money.
Actually, 90% of jurors lose no $.
The rest, mostly, need to say how they will be economically compromised, and they will be let out.
Ian David
(69,059 posts)backscatter712
(26,355 posts)They're the authoritarian fuckwads who instantly go "HE'S GUILTY! IF HE WASN'T GUILTY, HE WOULDN'T BE IN COURT!"
They assume guilt, and can't use analytical thinking to y'know, examine the evidence and see for yourself if the evidence is strong enough to prove guilt...
SamG
(535 posts)probably not eligible to vote for a few more years, since she is so self-absorbed.
LeftinOH
(5,358 posts)hamsterjill
(15,224 posts)While no one enjoys jury service, the system doesn't work without it. Quite disrespectful of her to make a mockery out of it when so many of us show up when called IMHO.
11 Bravo
(23,926 posts)empaneled. (The last time I was part of a jury pool, the defendant turned out to be a former 2nd grade student of mine! Needless to say, I was excused.)
Initech
(100,102 posts)Loudmxr
(1,405 posts)You can tell them how it is done but in the last... never tell them how it is done.
otohara
(24,135 posts)she said on the news, KOA was her life, she doesn't have a TV.
Self inflicted brainwashing is rampant in America!
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)That seems just a little bit over the top, much like much of our criminal justice system.
It does, though, help explain why we lead the world in imprisonment.
Snake Alchemist
(3,318 posts)ret5hd
(20,518 posts)Snake Alchemist
(3,318 posts)ret5hd
(20,518 posts)Zalatix
(8,994 posts)I'm sure you'll respond with, "Of course I don't."
Logical
(22,457 posts)Snake Alchemist
(3,318 posts)Logical
(22,457 posts)RebelOne
(30,947 posts)I received a notice last year to report for jury duty. One of the exemptions was that if you were over 70. I was already 72. I have to send in a notarized statement stating that I was over 70. I had already done two jury duties, one in Florida and one in Georgia, and I did not want to do any more. So I had a very legitimate reason for refusing.
JHB
(37,161 posts)1) it probably took more work to get out of jury duty than it would have taken to simply do it;
2) if you're going to go to that length to avoid something, don't draw attention to it, stupid!
SomethingFishy
(4,876 posts)dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)Ahhh..those were the days.
SomethingFishy
(4,876 posts)All my favorites are retired...
tanyev
(42,610 posts)whistler162
(11,155 posts)you will likely go to prison.
But the good news is...
you likely won't be called for jury duty again
JustABozoOnThisBus
(23,364 posts)... probably won't get that Mary Kay Pink Cadillac.
Dang.