CONCERNS have been raised in the legal arena around an apparent rush-job hearing in which a jury decision was expedited by a juror rushing to make the Michael Jackson memorial service.

The LA Times reported on the crowds surrounding the memorial service, in which people streamed into a cordoned-off area around the Staples Center. One member of the crowd was Savoy Brown, 42, an educator from Diamond Bar, who told reporters he almost missed attending because he was serving as a deliberating juror for a trial in Pomona.

He told his fellow jurors Monday morning that he had gotten a ticket from a friend who won the lottery. "I went in and was like, I have a ticket so I hope we get outta here today."

It looked like a long shot, but after lunch "there was kinda a breakthrough and we reached a verdict," he said.

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A legal blog picked up on the story, noting that while the 750,000 strong crowd was well organised, the city and its legal system were not completely unaffected by the tragedy of Jackson's death. 

"For example, if you won or lost a trial in Pomona on Monday afternoon, and the jury seemed to reach a verdict with surprising speed, you might want to check into this," Lowering the Bar wrote. "Hope it wasn't a death-penalty case."