CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) -
What would you do if you got called for jury duty? What if you got put on a jury? Careful how you answer. Tuesday's talker is a cautionary tale.
A 33-year-old dad from Plainfield found out the courts take jury duty seriously.
Scott Enke got picked for a jury in a federal Medicare fraud trial. For five days, he showed up. Then he had a problem.
Enke is a sales rep for a company that makes medical devices. Part of his job is to be at surgeries to help doctors properly use the devices. On the same day he was due for a sixth day of jury duty, he was also due in an operating room in Iowa.
If Enke's work appointment was unbreakable, he should've told the court during jury selection. He didn't.
Instead, the day before his work appointment, he called the judge's office.
He reached a deputy, who told Enke he'd have to wait until morning to talk with the judge about it. Enke did not talk with the judge in the morning. That is, until he got to Iowa.
When the judge called him, Enke said he thought the court deputy had approved his absence. The judge didn't buy it, and Enke was held in contempt of court. He could've gotten three days in jail.
But Tuesday, a judge accepted his apology and ordered Enke to pay a $1,000 fine, and to write a statement about the importance of jury duty.
The defense attorney says Enke did not get off easy. Lesson learned.
