A familiar face in the jury pool

By Donovan Slack, Globe Staff

A familiar face reported to Suffolk Superior Court this morning for jury duty. But Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino wasn't picked to serve and was dismissed before noon, city officials said.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino

He was part of a jury pool slated for a murder trial but was not selected to be part of the jury, said a Menino spokeswoman, Dot Joyce, who said she didn't know which case it was.

The mayor reported to the courthouse at 8 a.m. He did not attempt to get out of serving, Joyce said.

"The mayor's just like everyone else," she said. "He shows up for his civic duty like anyone else."

Menino was last summoned for jury duty in July 2005, when he also was excused. He had been called as a potential juror in a sex crime trial but not chosen for the jury. "I'm not sure I could have been objective since I knew all the police officers who were being called to testify," Menino said at the time.

Politicians and other notable public figures are routinely summoned but rarely serve on juries. In January 2005, US Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer was called for jury duty in Marlborough but was excused.

Senator John F. Kerry actually served in November 2005, acting as foreman in a jury that rejected a claim by two friends who sued a city worker for personal injuries they said stemmed from a car collision in August 2000 on Park Drive. The case lasted only two days. Kerry won rave reviews from his fellow jurors at the time.

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