Surprised Shoppers Find Themselves Jurors In A Rape Trial
Posted April 3, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Attention shoppers: you’re needed in courtroom 3.
Imagine going to your local store to pick up a few things and winding up sitting in judgment on a man accused of raping children. It happened earlier this week at a Wal-Mart in Lima, Ohio when a judge discovered he’d run out of potential jurors and needed a new set in a hurry.
Jury selection had just begun in the case of 51-year-old Terry Hupp, who’s facing seven counts of rape. The process of picking a panel began on Monday, but it was slow and arduous and by the time the afternoon arrived, not enough jurors had been seated and there was none left to call.
With the clock ticking and not wanting to fall too far behind in his already overcrowded calendar, Judge Richard Warren sent three deputies across the street to the local Wal-Mart, where they stopped shoppers and asked them if they lived in the area and were registered voters.
Those who answered ‘yes’ to those questions were immediately slapped with a summons to appear on the spot and led to the courthouse. In all 12 people were ensnared on Monday and another 8 on Tuesday. Several people in the courthouse itself were also dragooned into service – including a man who had simply gone there to finalize his divorce.
Six were dismissed, but in the end, eight women and four men were seated when opening arguments took place on Wednesday. The jurist admits it’s unusual but it happens. “In 20 years on the bench this is only the second time this has occurred,” Warren explains.
And for those shoppers who suddenly found themselves caught up in a trial, it was a lot more than they bargained for when they set out to get some lower prices.
