Florida man gets jail time for missing jury duty

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (WPTV) – Deandre Somerville, 21, learned the hard way, why you can’t miss jury duty.

“After going through that, my life will never be the same again,” he says.

In August, he was sworn in as a juror on a civil case. He understood he was to return the next day for the continuation of the trial, but he overslept.

“I woke up and I was like, ‘Oh shoot, it’s past the time,'” said Somerville.

Mistake number two: he didn’t call the jury office to let them know what was going on. Days later, he was served with a subpoena to go before the judge.

“I talked to my grandad for a while and he said the best thing you can always do is honesty, so I went for the hearing,” said Somerville.

Somerville lives with his grandparents and helps look after his grandfather by taking him to therapy.

The judge asked him to explain why he did not show up to court when he was supposed to.

“I said, ‘Sir, honestly I overslept and I didn’t understand the seriousness of this.’ He asked me if I had a criminal record. I said, ‘Sir, I’ve never been arrested,'” added Somerville.

Court transcripts show Somerville apologized, but the judge sentenced him to 10 days in jail.