Posted: Tuesday, August 28, 2012 --- 6:18p.m.
MILWAUKEE (AP) -- A runaway juror returned to Milwaukee from a Mexican getaway and headed back to court. But this time, it was to face the judge.
WISN-TV reports (http://bit.ly/OrPHg8 ) 20-year-old Ivana Samardzic abandoned her spot as Juror No. 4 two weeks ago for a family trip to Cancun. Deliberations proceeded with just 11 jurors.
Samardzic told Judge J.D. Watts on Tuesday it was her first time on a jury, and that she didn't know what she was supposed to do. She said English was her second language and that she didn't understand how long the trial would take. She said she didn't mean any disrespect.
But Watts told Samardzic her disappearance was selfish. Had she spoken up, he says, she could have been an alternate instead. He fined her $300.
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Information from: WISN-TV, http://www.wisn.com
Copyright 2012. The Associated Press.
