April 28, 2011 12:12 PM

Potential Blagojevich juror uses Oprah tickets as excuse

By
Casey Glynn
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Daily Blotter

Potential Blagojevich juror uses Oprah tickets as excuse

Oprah Winfrey

(Credit: HARPO)
(CBS) - If you're looking for a good excuse to get out of jury duty you might want to try this one: Oprah Winfrey.

A potential juror in the Rod Blagojevich corruption retrial reportedly said Monday she didn't want her jury service to interfere with the May 10 taping of the Oprah Winfrey show for which she has four tickets.

The U.S. District Judge James Zagel said that it "seems a little over the top" to reschedule the trial around the talk show idol's taping, but Assistant U.S. Attorney Reid Schar went to bat for the woman, reports the Chicago Sun-Times

"It's the last year, judge." Schar said, according to the paper.

Oprah Winfrey's last episode will air May 25, but Harpo hasn't released when the final taping will be held.

Zagel reportedly seemed unsympathetic at first saying, "Everybody here knows that this juror will survive" if she doesn't make it to the show.

But there may still be hope for the Winfrey fan. Zagel seemed open to the idea of rescheduling around the taping for one day, says the Chicago Sun-Times.


Add a Comment
by credibility2 April 28, 2011 4:03 PM EDT
And then we wonder why we're going down the toilet? The woman receives absolutely no special consideration whatsoever, including rescheduling just to accommodate this frivolous whim. The judge shouldn't cave in to pop culture just to pander to this woman and Oprah. Who gives a rat's butt that it's Oprah's last season, the tickets were hard to come by, blah, blah, blah. Potential jurors being excused or accommodated should only be done for extreme and dire circumstances. Oprah tickets doesn't cut it. That the judge is even considering this shows how moronic he is. If this juror gets her way and rescheduling occurs, the juror will be a major distraction from the trial. I live in the Chicago-area and this is an outrage. If anything, let Oprah give her tickets to a show for tomorrow or Monday as an exchange, since the trial won't be starting as yet. The judge, this woman and Oprah are all losers.
Reply to this comment
by VA_Jill April 28, 2011 3:06 PM EDT
Everyone wants to preserve the right of trial by jury, but nobody wants to serve on one. Go figure.
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by Jhihmoac April 28, 2011 2:31 PM EDT
Could've been worse...Could've been World Series tickets...
Reply to this comment
by Well_You_Aint_Me April 28, 2011 3:02 PM EDT
Strongly disagree.

Oprah is WORTHLESS. World Series is HISTORY IN THE MAKING!
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