Nov 2, 2009 7:33 pm US/Eastern
Woman Says Jury Duty Mix Up Landed Her In Jail
HAVERHILL (WBZ) ―
A Haverhill woman is still reeling after she was arrested for what she says is a court clerk's mistake.
Karyn Meunier was driving through Georgetown on her way to work when an officer ran her plates, pulled her over and told her to get out of the car. "He said, 'Are you aware of a warrant for a 10-year-old jury violation?' I said, 'No sir.' And he said yep and 'I'm gonna have to take you in.'"
Karyn says she missed jury duty back in 1999, but was cleared of the charge when she appeared in court in November 2000.
Still, she says the officer put her in handcuffs, took her to the station, booked her, fingerprinted her and placed her in a holding cell where she had to use the bathroom with a camera looking down at her from above. "I sat in there and then I needed to use the ladies room. I saw there was also a little toilet but I saw there was also a camera. I was uncomfortable. I knocked and asked if I could use a private one. He said 'No.'"
Georgetown's police chief said his officers felt bad about the situation, but were doing their job. "I think it's unfortunate, but from our perspective, the woman was stopped because the officer was running plates, which is routine, and her plate came up saying there was an active arrest warrant for her out in Newburyport District Court," said Chief James Mulligan.
The Newburyport District Court Clerk's office disputes Karyn's claims and says, "She was summonsed to appear in court on Nov. 17, 2000 (for missing jury duty), again, she did not appear. A warrant was issued and remained in effect until her arrest on Oct. 21, 2009."
But the court did eventually clear Karyn's file. Her charge was dismissed on Oct. 21, the day she was arrested. "They've never contacted me and never stopped me from doing anything that a regular citizen without a warrant can do - so they're wrong," Karyn's says.
Police agree. "When somebody clears a matter from a court, they should remove it immediately from their database. When you consider how many people are put into the system, there will be mistakes. It appears in this case - she was the victim of a mistake," Chief Mulligan says.
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