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Juror throws wrench into trial
By Times Staff
Published June 8, 2007
A language problem emerged Thursday in the trial of Bosnian Serb refugee Branko Popic, and it had nothing to do with Popic's native Serbo-Croatian. After three days of testimony and four hours of deliberation, a Spanish-speaking juror asked U.S. District Judge James Moody to be dismissed from service because of language difficulties.
Asked to elaborate, the juror said, "I cannot explain myself." Moody will decide today whether to allow her to continue with an interpreter or replace her with an alternate. Popic, a 59-year-old St. Petersburg resident, is accused of falsifying immigration papers.
[Last modified June 8, 2007, 07:09:37]
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by malobou
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06/08/07 08:04 PM
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Obviously she is a citizen of the US (I hope) because you are only called for jury duty if you are registered to vote! So how long has she been in this country and still cannot speak or understand ENGLISH? There is something wrong with this picture!
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by Ellen
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06/08/07 05:23 PM
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Great. A new excuse to get out of jury duty.
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