Lucky 13

Judge Ellis, smarter than the average groundhog

WTF

The Harris County jury returned a guilty verdict after deliberating 45 minutes in a murder case, but the judge realized he had a real problem. Sitting in the jury box were 13 citizens.

...

“In 23 years I’ve never seen anything like this,” the judge said. “The jurors all seemed pretty upset, but there’s no way to unring that bell.”

The lone GOP criminal judge to win re-election in November, [Kurt] Ellis placed the blame squarely on a substitute bailiff, whose name he didn’t know. His regular bailiff was sick.

“I told him I never want to see him in my courtroom again,” Ellis said.

via Chron