By Michael Donoghue
Vermont News First
A Colchester woman, who officials say failed to appear for jury selection when summoned to U.S. District Court in Burlington last month, has been ordered to appear before a federal judge next week to explain why.
Alissa Butkovich of Bay Road was among about 80 people across 8 northern Vermont counties directed to report March 14 for possible jury selection in a criminal case at the federal courthouse on Elmwood Avenue, court records show.
Now Chief Federal Judge Christina Reiss has set a show cause hearing for Butkovich on why she should not found in violation of the Federal Jury Service and Selection Act for failing to appear.
Butkovich told Vermont News First this afternoon that she wrote two hardship letters to the court, but they were rejected. She said she could not afford to miss a day of work. Butkovich said she is a salon coordinator and there was nobody to cover for her that day.
Under federal law, a person who fails to show good cause for noncompliance with a jury summons may be fined not more than $1,000, imprisoned not more than three days, ordered to perform community service, or any combination thereof.
Reiss directed the U.S. Marshals Service to serve Butkovich with a “show cause” summons ordering her to appear for a court hearing next Tuesday afternoon.
Unlike the Vermont state court system, which does little or nothing about defendants and jurors ignoring judicial orders, the federal court in the Green Mountain state takes a dim view on people who blow off judicial directives.
The jury selection on March 14 was for the trial of a Los Angeles scientist, who was charged as the mastermind in a “Murder for Hire” and wire fraud case that led to the execution of a Danville man seven years ago in the Northeast Kingdom.
The federal jury convicted Serhat D. Gumrukcu, 42, on all three counts on Friday after a five-week trial.
Gumrukcu faces a possible mandatory sentence of life in prison.
Butkovich has the right to retain a lawyer for her court hearing.