A DeKalb County attorney was jailed overnight recently after she complained to the court that serving on a jury would force her to work nights to keep up with her own job.

Attorney Wilma Beaty, identified as “Juror No. 1” hearing a personal injury lawsuit, refused to take the required oath and exhibited a pro-defense bias, according to a contempt order entered by DeKalb County State Court Judge Dax Lopez.

He fined Beaty $500 and ordered her jailed between 8 p.m. Friday and 8 p.m. Saturday on the last weekend of March.

Beaty could not be reached for comment. In an email to the judge, she said she could not give the case a higher priority than she would accord her own client. She said she would have to work nights to keep up, “all of which I blame on the plaintiff.”

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Members of the conversion crew take a break as the main scoreboard is lowered to the floor to be worked on as the arena gets ready for the next concert at State Farm Arena, Thursday, October 2, 2025, in Atlanta. The crew was working on creating a stage for the Friday, Oct. 3 Maxwell concert. (Jason Getz/AJC)

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