September 20, 2004
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Thu Sep 16, 8:58 AM ET
By Jeanne King
NEW YORK (Reuters) - New Yorkers dreading jury duty take note: it's OK to be drunk on booze or high on pot or cocaine while doing your civic duty.
So said a New York judge on Wednesday.
Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Ellen Coin cited a 1987 Supreme Court decision which rejected the argument that jurors consuming alcohol, smoking marijuana, snorting cocaine and falling asleep constituted an "outside influence" on jurors.
"However severe their effect and improper their use, drugs or alcohol voluntarily ingested by a juror seem no more an 'outside influence' than a virus, poorly prepared food, or lack of sleep," the Supreme Court said in its decision.
Comments (4)
That's scary.
I feel safe. . . maybe that judge was on something.
Cool! When do I get to do jury duty?
Ha. Wow. I guess it makes sense though. Actually, maybe the judge was assuming too much.
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