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Opening Arguments

Nice duty if you can get it

Sounds like being on a jury in Florida might be more fun than my last vacation:

The sequestration of the jury that ultimately acquitted George Zimmerman cost Florida taxpayers about $33,000 and allowed jurors creature comforts such as dinner at Outback Steakhouse, a bowling excursion and a trip to the Ripley's Believe It or Not! museum.

The Seminole County sheriff's office said in a statement that during the sequestration, "Jurors had individual rooms and convened regularly in a suite for meals and to socialize."

[. . .]

"Jurors watched television and movies, exercised at the hotel fitness center, and spent weekends being visited by family and friends," the sheriff's statement said, noting that jurors could also request visits from members of the religious community. Anyone visiting members of the jury were asked to sign an agreement indicating they would not discuss the case with the jury member.

$33,000 isn't really a whole lot though, and I guess if I were on trial I'd rather have my jury members happy than for them to be grumpy and resentful for having to serve.

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