ATLANTA — The YSL trial's winding, labored jury selection process saw another moment of strain Wednesday, as Judge Ural Glanville ordered to hold a potential juror in contempt because she had not shown up to court at an earlier date.
Judge Glanville ultimately ordered the woman to attend the first five days of the trial - whenever it eventually begins - in lieu of what would otherwise be a 20-day jail sentence and $1,000 fine.
That came after a lengthy back-and-forth during which the judge and the woman discussed her previous missed court date. The judge expressed his frustration with the potential juror, characterizing her absence as "you just decided to do what you're gonna do and not show up."
The woman countered that she had been at prior court dates associated with jury duty, and on that day - when she was to return to have her hardship claim addressed - had simply gone to work and forgot it was happening.
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"I literally forgot, it was not a malicious act, it was not that I just decided to not come show up that day, I came to other dates," she said.
At one particularly heated moment, the judge raised his voice and told her "I'm not down on the floor, madam, look at me" as she evidently looked at the ground.
The judge also alluded to her calling the fire marshal to complain the building was over capacity at a previous jury selection proceeding, which he said the marshal showed up and cleared at that time.
"Jury service is one of the best and highest ways of service," Glanville said at one point. "This is very, very serious, one of the most important civic obligations we have."
"People get annoyed and angry, we get this from everybody, all types of people we summon - educators, doctors, lawyers... everybody's got something they have to necessarily do, that summons we know interrupts your ordinary, everyday life," he added.
In ordering her to attend five days of the trial, the judge said, "I want you to see the process, and I think that those who know you need to see that this is important."
The episode Wednesday underscored the ongoing difficulty in seating a jury for the trial, which is expected to take months once it begins and has seen potential jurors claim hardships that would prevent them from serving on the eventual jury.
Back in April, defense attorneys were calling the jury selection, which began in January, "the longest in Georgia history." That was three months ago.
There remains no clear indication the process is nearing a conclusion that could give way to the start of a trial.
You can watch the full exchange that happened in court Wednesday in the video player above this story.
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