NY Giants CEO John Mara picked for jury duty

[charlie and algernon]

NEW YORK -- The owner of the New York Giants tried a courthouse version of the Hail Mary pass Tuesday to escape serving on a jury hearing a drug trial before a judge threw him for a loss, rejecting excuses that included the upcoming NFL draft and his role as a negotiator for team owners in the work stoppage that resulted from their dispute with players.

The confrontation occurred in U.S. District Court in Manhattan between John Mara and Judge Jed S. Rakoff after Mara was called to become the final alternate on a jury expected to hear a major international drug case for the next three weeks. Mara has served as a juror at least once before on a panel that reached a verdict in a criminal case.

(snip)

The Giants owner did not know it but he already had lost ground in his quest to avoid sitting on the jury because the judge knew Mara had a law degree from Fordham University.

The judge mentioned that his wife is head of the Fordham Corporate Law Center and that she had spoken "very highly" of Mara's work for the school.

"And she wouldn't want me to excuse you under any set of circumstances," Rakoff said.

http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/nfl/news/story?id=6297846

:rofl:

[rocktivity]

1. The draft can go on without you, and the world can certainly go on without pro football

And as the judge pointed out, his hands were kind of tied -- how would it have looked if he'd let Mara off, and news of the Fordham Law connection had come out? They both would have come out looking bad, LOL!

:headbang:
rocktivity