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Florida Man Oversleeps Jury Duty, Gets 10-Day Jail Sentence

WEST PALM BEACH (CBSMiami/CNN) — Failing to report for jury duty is no joke. Just ask a Florida man who accidentally overslept and was sentenced to 10-days in jail for missing his jury service.

Not only did the judge sentence 21-year-old Deandre Somerville to the jail time, but also one year of probation and 150 hours of community service after failing to serve on a jury Aug. 21.

Somerville, who works at afterschool programs for the city of West Palm Beach Parks and Recreation Department, was released Sunday and has a hearing scheduled Friday.

"After going through that, my life will never be the same again," he said.

In August, he was sworn in as a juror on a civil case. He understood he was to return the next day for the continuation of the trial, but he overslept.

"I woke up and I was like, 'Oh shoot, it's past the time,'" said Somerville.

Mistake number two: he didn't call the jury office to let them know what was going on. Days later, he was served with a subpoena to go before the judge.

"I talked to my grandad for a while and he said the best thing you can always do is honesty, so I went for the hearing," said Somerville.

Somerville lives with his grandparents and helps look after his grandfather by taking him to therapy.

"My grandma was saying, 'I think you should dress up,' and I said, 'Nah, I'm going to wear my work clothes cause I felt like at least he can see that I'm doing something, cause a lot of times people get stereotyped 'oh he's just another black boy out here doing something he's not supposed to be doing,'" said Somerville.

However, the 21-year-old man could not imagine what was coming next. The judge asked him to explain why he did not show up to court when he was supposed to.

"I said, 'Sir, honestly I overslept and I didn't understand the seriousness of this.' He asked me if I had a criminal record. I said, 'Sir, I've never been arrested,'" added Somerville.

Court transcripts show Somerville apologized, but the judge sentenced him to 10 days in jail. Somerville said all he could think about was his grandfather.

"Like he depends on me, so it's hard for him," said Somerville.

Fifteenth Circuit Civil Judge John Kastrenakes' order said Somerville's failure to appear delayed the trial by 45 minutes. The court also tried to reach him and could not.

Somerville served 10 days in jail, is on probation for a year and has to complete 150 hours of community service as well as write a letter of apology. He said he wants to apologize to the parties from the civil case that were delayed because of him.

"It hurts, but it's a lesson learned. It could have been worse. He could have given me 365 days in jail," added Somerville.

The judge's order found, based on Somerville's explanation, there was no good reason to explain why he didn't appear in court.

When reached by phone Thursday, the judge said he's not allowed to comment on pending court matters.
Somerville said his public defender will try to lessen his probation sentence, which he called "excessive," at Friday's hearing.
"Now I have a record. I almost feel like a criminal now. Now, I have to explain this in every interview," said Somerville, who said he plans to go to school to become a firefighter.

(©2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company, contributed to this report.)

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