Mayor Brandon Scott’s tenure as a trial juror in Baltimore Circuit Court ended Thursday after less than an hour.
Minutes after announcing he been selected to serve jury duty, Scott was dismissed after the defendant in the murder trial he was set to observe reached a plea agreement, according to James Bentley, a spokesperson for State’s Attorney Ivan Bates.
Paul Ray IV admitted to fatally shooting Bryson Hudson, 16, on Aug. 14, 2023, in one of the many instances of gun violence that felled Baltimore’s young people that year, according to a news release from Bates’ office. Ray, 18, agreed to plead guilty to charges of first-degree murder, first-degree assault, carjacking, and use of a firearm in connection to Hudson’s death. Earlier that day, he had stolen a vehicle at gunpoint and driven it to the A Plus Grocery & Deli in East Baltimore, where he shot Hudson and another man who survived, Bates said.
Ray’s sentencing date is Jan. 29.
“These reprehensible actions demand swift and significant punishment,” Bates said in a statement. “I am grateful to Mayor Scott and the other jurors for dedicating their time to fulfilling their civic duty.”
Scott had been selected to serve as an alternate that morning, joining the thousands of Baltimoreans who serve as jurors every year, according to a news release from his office. The news came as a “surprise.”
On Thursday afternoon, Scott posted a photo of himself smiling and holding his jury attendance certificate as proof he had reported for service.
“I was instructed to show this to my bosses to prove that I completed my jury service, so I am,” he wrote in an X post. “Everyone who is called should complete their civic duty and serve. Now, back to our regular scheduled program.”
A spokesperson for Scott’s office said the mayor had previously been selected, but wasn’t able to say whether the mayor had been seated before.
Public officials being seated for jury duty, while not prohibited, is a rarity. Mayor Martin O’Malley previously served as the jury foreman in a personal injury case in January 2002, a duty he said he was “glad to do.” His predecessor, Kurt Schmoke, said he had “come close” but had never been seated in the 12 years he served in office.
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