Mom and Son Serve on the Same Jury

Last week a rare occurrence happened in Broward County. Apparently, there’s no rule that keeps two jurors from getting picked for a case if they know each other or are even related. The rule is that potential jurors are not allowed to serve on a case if they know the judge, the lawyers, the defendant or the witnesses. However, Janet Mansolill and her son, Kevin, were both picked to serve on the same attempted armed robbery case. No one realized what was happening until the process of the jury selection was underway. The defense attorney Jim Lewis spotted the same last name which he thought was uncommon and asked if juror No. 5, Janet, and juror No. 7, Kevin, were related. Even when the mother said that juror No. 7 was her son neither Lewis nor the fiscal Ross Weiner opposed the inclusion of the mother and son on the jury. The judge ,however, reminded both of them that they were not allowed to discuss the case among themselves until they were with the other jurors in the deliberation room. Kevin insisted that neither he nor his mother had any influence over each other. The defendant in the case was convicted of a misdemeanor, petty theft. Jailed since his arrest in 2009, the defendant was sentenced to time served and two years probation. For more information go to the Miami Herald.