Being a Juror for a High Profile Case

My Mother was often called to Jury Duty. She was a juror magnet, apparently. Somehow, she was often chosen from the large pools of candidates. When the trial of Louise Thoresen began with jury selection no one was surprised when she ended up as one of the twelve. It was November of 1970 and the timing was terrible. She was a school secretary. She had been selected to be a member of the first staff who would open a brand-new school in the fall. There were still many bugs to be worked out. Her daughter (me) came down with the hard red measles. Thankfully, my grandmother was able to take care of me. Honestly I didn’t create much work, I could barely lift my head up and I didn’t want to eat. And the jury had been sequestered, so she couldn’t even see me at night, or tend to other business.

Mrs. Thoresen had written a book about her life with William Thoresen III entitled It Gave Everybody Something To Do. The Thoresen Family was wealthy and relatively well known. The notorious off-the-rails antics of Louise and William III often made front page news. Louise admitted killing William but pleaded self-defense.

The courtroom was filled each day, the media was everywhere trying to get a unique angle on the event.

The trial ended on Thursday, November 19. On Friday, November 20 at 3 am the jury announced their verdict. Here is an excerpt…