*Samuel L. Jackson was reportedly excused from jury duty in a Los Angeles courtroom Tuesday after telling the judge he couldn’t serve due to his commitment to shoot a film this month and in October.
While non-celebrities rarely have the luxury of getting out of jury service when it’s inconvenient for their work schedules, Jackson was allowed to forgo his civic duty citing financial hardship.
An argument for financial hardship sounds inapplicable to Jackson, whose movies apparently have grossed the most combined of any actor. However, notes attorney E. Barry Haldeman, celebrities could argue their absence from production shoots could cause financial hardship for the crew and producers, which Jackson reportedly did.
In most cases in which jury service would hamper a production, the celebrity would postpone jury service rather than receive a dismissal, says Los Angeles litigator John Gatti, though Jackson already might have postponed his service as much as he could. “My overall experience is that judges have made it very difficult for anybody to get excused from the jury pool,” he tells THR.
The potential for distraction or influence generally does not convince judges to dismiss celebrities, says Gatti, adding that a former co-worker had January Jones serve on his case years ago. He finds judges more reluctant to excuse celebrity (and industry) jurors than they were 10 years ago.
“In the past, we were able to work with the system and get even executives who were in entertainment companies excused because of the demands of their jobs, but today, that’s not the situation,” he says. “In today’s system, ‘celebrity’ is not going to be deemed an excuse.”
“With respect to the issue of celebrity, the Los Angeles Superior Court treats all jurors the same,” says a representative for the court, adding that the court can make accommodations for celebrity jurors’ safety.
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