From today’s New York Times, a story about one deliberating jury (in a criminal case) and what is described as a “food fight” in the jury room.
It’s caused a temporary stand-off in the courtroom. The defense lawyer wants a mistrial, the prosecutor does not.
Thing is, it’s not quite a “food fight,” no. Just that one juror is claiming her food was poisoned. Bad enough.
Here’s the story which reads kind of like the Wild West:
Source: Food Fight on the Jury May Derail Code Trial
A dispute between two jurors, including an allegation of “food tampering,” threatens to prompt a mistrial in the case against Sergey Aleynikov, a former Goldman Sachs programmer.
That was the abstract. The article starts and continues in a sober, journalistic fashion but begins to deteriorate into satire right here:
The exact nature of the dispute is a bit of a mystery, but it apparently involves the female juror and a male juror. Mr. Marino said the female juror was complaining about being the victim of “food poisoning.” Jeremy Glickman, an assistant district attorney, said she never actually expressed concern about “food poisoning.” Justice Conviser said the phrase used was “food tampering.”
Mr. Marino referred separately to something about an avocado and a sandwich.
The potential for a mistrial is just the latest bizarre twist in the case.
So maybe you want to reconsider your recent decision to go to a jury trial? Unless, of course, you intend to cater the jury’s meals and have a food taster right there.