All These Jurors Want for Christmas Is to Get the Hell Off the Sheldon Silver Corruption Case
If you’ve been following the Sheldon Silver corruption case at all, you might be forgiven for assuming the jury room is some kind of court-appointed torture chamber—in the last week alone, at least two jurors have sent handwritten notes begging the judge to release them from the case.
Monday marks the second week of deliberations over whether the former New York Assemblyman hid millions of dollars in undeclared income, but so far the only thing being decided is whether or not the jury will make it through deliberations.
Last week, less than two hours in, one unidentified juror—believed to be one of eight women—sent the judge a note claiming she could no longer serve because she felt uncomfortable.
“I am wondering if there is anyway I can be excused from this case, because I have a different opinion/view so far in this case and it is making me feel very, very uncomfortable,” she wrote. “I’m feeling pressured, stressed out ... told that I’m not using my common sense, my heart is pounding and my head feels weird. I am so stressed out right now that I can’t even write normally. I don’t feel like I can be myself right now! I need to leave!”
The judge declined her request. But as they say, if at first you don’t succeed, send another note, which a second juror did Monday morning.
“I, [name redacted], Juror #11, no longer wish to participate as a juror on this case. I believe there is a conflict of interest that I just learned about. Thank you,” the juror wrote, according to the New York Times.
According to reporter John Riley, the “conflict” may be tenuous, at best:
Silver: Juror who wants off is a taxi driver who leases medallion from a man wh he believes knows Silver.
— John Riley (@jriley8832) November 30, 2015
It’s unclear how the judge ruled on the latest request. But the jury narrowly avoided losing yet another juror last week when the defense spotted him talking to an NBC reporter. (“I know the one girl from the news,” he told the judge. “That’s all I did, was say hello. I watch every morning from 4:30 to 7.”)
And further complicating things is the fact that there are two alternate jurors have already subbed in: One took over for a woman whose boss refused to pay her while she served, and the other replaced a woman who sprained her ankle.
There are still two alternates left, so the unidentified jurors screaming for relief may yet go free. Still, not a bad day to be Sheldon Silver’s defense attorney.
