This archive report was first published on 8 October 2019.
On August 21, 21-year-old Deandre Somerville failed to show up for jury duty in West Palm Beach, Florida, sparking a chain of events that would lead to a 10-day jail sentence and a year of probation.
However, after an appeal from Somerville's lawyer, Judge John S. Kastrenakes of the 15th Judicial Circuit reduced the probation to three months and community service from 150 hours to 30 hours on Friday.
Just one day later, Judge Kastrenakes reversed himself entirely, rescinding his finding of criminal contempt and declaring Somerville 'totally rehabilitated.'
According to an order dated Saturday, Judge Kastrenakes wrote, 'I firmly believe that Deandre Somerville is the type of person who can achieve anything he wants in this world.'
He continued, 'He is a thoughtful and respectful young man. He cares deeply about his family. I know he now understands and respects our system of justice and the critical role jurors play in that system.'
On Monday, neither Judge Kastrenakes nor Somerville could be reached for comment.
According to a court transcript, Judge Kastrenakes initially scolded Somerville, saying, 'You failed to come to court. We waited almost an hour for you to come to court; you didn’t come. I had the jury office call to see where you were. God forbid you’d been in an accident or something terrible had happened. You shut your phone off.'
On October 3, 2019, the New York Times reported that the 10-day jail sentence was widely criticized as overly harsh.
