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Juror Punished For Bringing Kids To Court
Woman Says No One Else Could Watch Them

Posted: Thursday, March 4, 2010Updated: 9:03 am CST March 4, 2010

Pontiac, Mich. -- A Michigan mother said she was ordered to jail for bringing her two young children with her to jury duty because she could not find someone to watch them, Detroit TV station WDIV reported.

Carmela Khury, 37, said she had no other choice but to bring her 3-year-old daughter and 8-month-old son to an Oakland County circuit court last Thursday. Khury said her husband was at work, the children’s grandmother was getting oral surgery and none of her friends were available.

Khury said she called the court’s clerk office to make them aware of her situation and to say that she would be late.Khury said when she arrived, Judge Leo Bowman dismissed her from the jury pool but ordered her to return Friday and watch the trial as a spectator, and told her she would have to serve 24 hours in jail at the end of the case.

“I was saying, ‘What choice did I have? What did you want me to do?’” Khury said. "It's not like I didn't show up for jury duty. I showed up for jury duty Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I had a problem on Thursday." Khury said the children’s grandmother was able to watch them Friday for her.

The complaint ultimately reached the state court administrative offices, which advised Bowman to immediately cease holding Khury as a spectator.
She was released Monday.“These are my kids. I know they may not have been important to him, but this is my priority,” Khury said. Bowman's staff said making a statement about a specific juror would be inappropriate, but that he would be able to comment after the trial ended.

Distributed by Internet Broadcasting.

Good grief. What was she supposed to do, leave the kids at home by themselves? They should have cut the woman some slack. No wonder people can't stand the judicial system in this country. :rolleyes: :mad:

What was the Judge expecting her to do? Abandon her children? I think that Judge should be sentenced to babysit this lady's kids for a few days so she can recover from the stress he caused her! :mad:

Time to vote out someone :rolleyes:

They should have a daycare center for jurors who have kids.


Yeah and jury duty sucks :mad:

Leave a child to die in a hot car and get hardly a slap on the wrist but bring a child to jury duty because you can't find someone to care for them while you honor your civic duty and you get thrown in jail. :rolleyes:

People know months in advance that they have jury duty. Plenty of people have kids, and she had plenty of time to make arrangements. Jury duty is serious business, and they don't make exceptions for anyone. If they do for some, they have to do it for all. I think jail is excessive. There are other ways; a fine or have her make up the time in another case.

People know months in advance that they have jury duty.

I thought prospective Jurors were given sufficient notice but since I've never been called to Jury Duty I wasn't sure how much.

I thought prospective Jurors were given sufficient notice but since I've never been called to Jury Duty I wasn't sure how much.
Same here.

I served for a weeklong trial about 15 years ago. It was an interesting case. This pimp had taken an underage girl to Las Vegas. She claimed he kidnapped and beat her. He was convicted. The trial started on Monday and ended on Friday. It was fun, and my fellow jurors were cool. They served us really nice take-out lunches; good food. On Friday, they shook these cubes in a container and pulled out my number. That meant that I was an alternate, and I wasn't allowed to deliberate. I was so irked. Still, it was an overall interesting experience.

I don't remember exactly how much notice I was given, but it was a couple of months. I've been summoned a few times since. I would always check off "Postpone" on the card and mail it back. You can postpone it for a year. When the year was up, my doctor would write a letter that I wasn't well. Now, since I'm on disability, I'll never have to serve again.

I've only been summoned once for Jury Duty in 2005, the card came in January, I checked the postpone box, I got a card back saying it was postponed for October of that year(and even the week it would be for, and the time I would have to show up), then towards October I got a reminder card- so she should have gotten plenty of notice. It's not like they just randomly spring jury duty on you the day before.

I didn't get to actually be part of jury. I went to the the court house on a Monday, filled out information so they could reimburse you for gas. I think it started at 8AM, then finally about 1PM they gathered us up and started reading off names of people for possible jury. I was one of the people, then we waited another 2 hours, and then we were told that the case was settled and we could leave. I then had to call every night for a week to see if my number was called.

Don't they have alternate jurors in cases of emergency? :confused:

Seems to me that a stay at home mom shouldn't have to hire a babysitter just to do jury duty.

I think one of the exceptions to not have to go to jury duty is if you are caring for a child under the age of 10. I could be wrong, but I think that was one of the options. I'm not sure why the lady was forced to go.

I served for a weeklong trial about 15 years ago. It was an interesting case. This pimp had taken an underage girl to Las Vegas. She claimed he kidnapped and beat her. He was convicted. The trial started on Monday and ended on Friday. It was fun, and my fellow jurors were cool. They served us really nice take-out lunches; good food. On Friday, they shook these cubes in a container and pulled out my number. That meant that I was an alternate, and I wasn't allowed to deliberate. I was so irked. Still, it was an overall interesting experience.

I don't remember exactly how much notice I was given, but it was a couple of months. I've been summoned a few times since. I would always check off "Postpone" on the card and mail it back. You can postpone it for a year. When the year was up, my doctor would write a letter that I wasn't well. Now, since I'm on disability, I'll never have to serve again.

I received a jury summons once. I don't remember seeing a postpone option. Perhaps I just didn't see it. I checked with the local court though and with documentation I was able to be excused because of blindness.

I think one of the exceptions to not have to go to jury duty is if you are caring for a child under the age of 10. I could be wrong, but I think that was one of the options. I'm not sure why the lady was forced to go.



I received a jury summons once. I don't remember seeing a postpone option. Perhaps I just didn't see it. I checked with the local court though and with documentation I was able to be excused because of blindness.
I also received a jury summons 7-8 years ago. However, I was excused because I wasn't driving at the time and I also had upcoming final exams (I was still in college then).

Seems to me that a stay at home mom shouldn't have to hire a babysitter just to do jury duty.
There's always friends, family. People have to go when they're called. They need a cross section of society. Most people work, have kids and have busy lives. They're are given enough notice.

I can't believe she brought her kids with her into court, that's absurd. She had advanced notice and should have made arrangements. Some of you asked what was she supposed to do? For heaven's sake, there are daycare centers out there, she could have found one within the weeks/months before the trial date. I don't blame the judge for getting upset, the courtroom is a serious place where decisions are made and lives are changed. It's not the place for a toddler and a baby. To me, her actions show disrespect to the judge, counsel, defendant, as well as her fellow juriors.

I don't remember exactly how much notice I was given, but it was a couple of months. I've been summoned a few times since. I would always check off "Postpone" on the card and mail it back.

Is that really right? I don't understand why so many people try to get out of jury duty. If I were to be called, yes it would be an inconvenience, but it's my responsibility as a citizen.

Is that really right? I don't understand why so many people try to get out of jury duty. If I were to be called, yes it would be an inconvenience, but it's my responsibility as a citizen.
What's wrong with postponing? It's not canceling. I've served too. If you read my posts here, you'll see I'm the just about the only person in agreement with you.

I can't believe she brought her kids with her into court, that's absurd. She had advanced notice and should have made arrangements. Some of you asked what was she supposed to do? For heaven's sake, there are daycare centers out there, she could have found one within the weeks/months before the trial date. I don't blame the judge for getting upset, the courtroom is a serious place where decisions are made and lives are changed. It's not the place for a toddler and a baby. To me, her actions show disrespect to the judge, counsel, defendant, as well as her fellow juriors.

Then why do some other people on here(including Monika) disagree on this?

Then why do some other people on here(including Monika) disagree on this?

Um... because some other people see things differently. It's called an opinion.

What's wrong with postponing? It's not canceling. I've served too. If you read my posts here, you'll see I'm the just about the only person in agreement with you.

I did read your posts, but that one made it sound like you always postpone. Sorry if I misunderstood.

I did read your posts, but that one made it sound like you always postpone. Sorry if I misunderstood.
I did postpone a few times because I was ill. My doctor would write a note to excuse me. I'm legally disabled now, so I'll never be called again. When I was healthy, I served.

Is that really right? I don't understand why so many people try to get out of jury duty. If I were to be called, yes it would be an inconvenience, but it's my responsibility as a citizen.

I postponed because I was just starting a new job.

The article says she served Monday-Wednesday and then had to bring the children on Thursday. This leads me to believe it was probably a last-minute childcare issue which is why she couldn't have planned for it in advance. Possibly the person who was supposed to watch them had to cancel due to an emergency. So I understand her dilemma. However...it is against the law to bring children into the courtroom when you are involved in a case (attorney, judge, accused, or juror.) If you are involved in the case, your full attention must be on the case. While I think the judge was harsh in sending her to jail, he also had to follow the law. She was in contempt of court by bringing her children there. We may not agree with the law...but it is the law.

I am wondering why her husband couldn't call into work or Grandma couldn't postpone her dental surgery? I guess the moral of this story is for parents to remember to back-up their back-up plan when it comes to childcare and jury duty.

I did postpone a few times because I was ill. My doctor would write a note to excuse me. I'm legally disabled now, so I'll never be called again. When I was healthy, I served.

In Janice's first post she made it clear that she served on a jury. After five days her number was chosen and she was then made an alternate juror.

As Janice pointed out she only postponed due to illness. That's completely understandable, imo.

I did postpone a few times because I was ill. My doctor would write a note to excuse me. I'm legally disabled now, so I'll never be called again. When I was healthy, I served.

That makes sense. And I apologize again if I offended you. I honestly didn't mean just you. I know a lot of people who talk about how they have to get out of jury duty. Yours was just the post I saw at the moment.

The article says she served Monday-Wednesday and then had to bring the children on Thursday. This leads me to believe it was probably a last-minute childcare issue which is why she couldn't have planned for it in advance. Possibly the person who was supposed to watch them had to cancel due to an emergency. So I understand her dilemma. However...it is against the law to bring children into the courtroom when you are involved in a case (attorney, judge, accused, or juror.) If you are involved in the case, your full attention must be on the case. While I think the judge was harsh in sending her to jail, he also had to follow the law. She was in contempt of court by bringing her children there. We may not agree with the law...but it is the law.

I am wondering why her husband couldn't call into work or Grandma couldn't postpone her dental surgery? I guess the moral of this story is for parents to remember to back-up their back-up plan when it comes to childcare and jury duty.


Exactly. Also, trials can last for weeks and even months - she should have forseen this.