Bibb judges lecture jurors who missed jury duty

Of 20 jurors issued orders to appear in court Friday to explain their absence last month, only six showed up.

The small group ranged in age. They were black and white.

Three Bibb County Superior Court judges lectured the group about jurors’ importance in the justice system.

Although the jurors could have been called to the front of the courtroom to address the judges, they were allowed to keep their seats.

Judge Howard Simms said he seriously considered whether he’d send someone to jail Friday but decided against it.

Fewer than a third of the 145 summoned jurors reported for duty Feb. 23. Deputies knocked on doors but were only able to add a few to the pool.

The number still was insufficient for jury selection for 25-year-old Keith Dozier, a man charged with murder in the 2012 slaying of Macon legal secretary Gail Spencer.

Dozier and his family were at the courthouse that Monday, as were members of Spencer’s family, Simms told the jurors gathered Friday.

“We were at a point, and they all thought that we were about to be able to give some closure to all these people. And that didn’t happen,” he said.

When the trial was postponed, both sides were “very upset” and “distraught,” he said.

The system failed them. It collapsed.

Simms explained that if Dozier had filed a request for a speedy trial and not enough jurors showed up, the judge would have been forced by law to acquit him without a trial.

In her address to the jurors, Judge Verda Colvin noted that she saw a look of surprise on the face of one of the jurors who learned that a person accused of a crime could be set free without a trial because jurors didn’t report for duty.

She reminded the group, “It’s the fate of your city.”

Judge Phil Raymond told the jurors no right is more important than the right to a trial by members of a person’s community.

When deputies are dispatched to round up jurors, they’re not fighting crime, he said.

The six jurors who showed up Friday checked in with clerk’s office representatives after the brief hearing, making changes to records of their addresses.

Deputies were unable to contact the other 14 no-shows, or the jurors were no longer at the address on file. It’s unclear whether they will face any penalties.

One of the jurors, Shirley Gates, said her summons was sent to an address where she’s never lived.

She said she’s come to court for jury duty before. The judges’ warnings will ensure she responds in the future, she said.

Another juror, Thomas Randall, said he never saw his jury summons. Neither did his girlfriend, who lives with him.

Randall said his mail sometimes ends up at another home.

He did receive the notice to appear in court Friday and was nervous to come.

“I had no idea what I was walking into,” Randall said.

Information from Telegraph archives was used in this report. To contact writer Amy Leigh Womack, call 744-4398.

This story was originally published March 6, 2015 at 2:23 PM with the headline "Bibb judges lecture jurors who missed jury duty ."