A Jury of Your Peers May Include Oprah Today

By Rachelle Bowden in News on Aug 16, 2004 11:29AM

Oprah Winfrey will be reporting for jury duty, along with 300 prospective jurors, at the Cook Country Criminal Courthouse today. The only special treatment she'll get is to be allowed to use an alternate entrance to avoid commotion. If Oprah isn't picked for a jury by the end of the day, she will receive a check for $17.20 for her time. But there is always the possibility that she will be chosen and will have to sit for a week or more in judgment of a serious criminal.

Perry Bennett, an accused drug dealer awaiting trial, says he would like to have Oprah on his jury because she would understand what happened to him. Bennett says, "If [the other jurors] see Oprah finds me guilty or not guilty, they'd go along with her because she's a professional and a billionaire. She didn't get that way by making the wrong decision."

While some lawyers agree with Bennett, others say it's doubtful any lawyer would choose her because the attention Oprah would get would draw from the trial. A professor at DePaul said that picking a celeb like Oprah would be a reflection of the judicial system's recent push to fill the jury box with people from all walks of life.

Chicagoist on Oprah's contract extension, purchase of a sandwich shop, and gettin us cheap haircuts.