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News

Oops! Courthouse Accidentally Called Way Too Many Jurors Today

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This morning the Stanley Mosk Courthouse accidentally called in too many people to report to jury service.

A tipster who was called in to jury service sent us the photo above that shows the extra-long lines snaking down Hill Street early this morning. He says the jury room was full, and there was a "crush of people" in the hallways. A court employee told the crowds that because of a computer glitch, the entire jury pool for the rest of the week was called in, instead of just the pool that was supposed to show up today.

He writes:

A little after 8:00, a court employee informed us of the computer error and read the numbers of the six or so groups that were actually called for Tuesday. The rest of us were allowed to leave but informed we couldn't be dismissed from service (since there were be no jurors available for the trials set for the rest of the week) and we'd have to start checking in again this evening. When I left the courthouse around 8:20, there was still a line of jurors wrapped around the block waiting to get in.

We checked in with Patricia Kelly, a spokeswoman for Los Angeles Angeles Superior Court, who confirmed that too many people were called in to jury service today and that some of the people excused this morning were told to call in again after 5 p.m. today. Kelly said the court wasn't sure if a computer glitch was responsible for the problem, and she wasn't sure just how many extra jurors were called. She told LAist this afternoon, "They're researching what happened."

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