"Can I have a case of my own?"

WASHINGTON – A juror who vanished during Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens' corruption trial told the judge Monday she lied about her father dying and flew to California to see horse races.

Yup. We thought she might be a child of privilege, but she's merely a troubled individual. (Although we have to wonder what a paralegal at a mortgage co. makes, what w/ the condo in Florida, flying off to Cali for the Breeder's Cup, &c.)

She apologized for lying, and then started a long rambling story about horses, which included references to horse breeding, the Breeders' Cup, drugs, President Ford's son Steven and her condo in Florida being bugged. "I am thoroughly convinced you would not have been able to continue to deliberate," Sullivan interrupted. "Can I have a case of my own?" Hinnant asked. Sullivan referred her to Kramer and the federal public defender's office, and excused her from his courtroom. Outside the courthouse, Hinnant refused to answer questions about whether she was on medication or had been hospitalized. When asked what she thought about Stevens' case, she said: "He didn't do anything any of the other congressmen and senators did, so they're all guilty." When asked if she thought Stevens was guilty, she replied: "I didn't say that."

Well (Hmpfh!) we like this "Are you now, or have you ever been, hospitalized or medicated?" attitude from the old, mainstream media. If Ms. Hinnant sat still for the entire trial & then found herself bored by deliberations, what's the big deal? How'd she get on the freaking jury o' peers in the first place, Judge Sullivan?