Editor
Editorial
If anyone thinks Sudoku isn't addictive, there's a bit of news that might help change their minds. I
In a drug trial in Sydney, recently, the jurors were too busy playing Sudoku to pay attention to the evidence. The trial had run 66 days and cost about $1 million, when the judge decided to abort it.
The remedy is to go to a doctor for a hearing test, once in three years, after you turn 50. Experts also say that if you turned the volume down to under 80% of the maximum, you would actually be working to prevent your hearing from worsening in future.
The jury was discharged after the jury foreperson conceded that some jurors were spending about half the time of the trial playing Sudoku.
The jury foreperson seemed remorseless, and said that Sudoku helped keep one's mind focused in a long-winded trial where the evidence was "drawn out".
The judge wasn't impressed, though. Nor was a defendant's lawyer,Robyn Hakelis, who first brought the judge's attention to the Sudoku playing by the jurors in court.
The lawyer was concerned that the defendants wouldn't get a fair trial as much of the evidence may not have been heard by the jury,and a retrial might have to be held.
Hakelis noticed that the jurors were writing something as the defendants gave evidence. But she surmised that everything wasn't as it seemed as the jurors were writing vertically, not horizontally. The defendants noticed this, too.
Then, the lawyer decided to alert the judge.
Sudoku addicts will be happy to know that no action is proposed to be taken against the jurors, as they are considered 'anonymous' for the purpose of the trial.
If there's a lesson for us in this incident, it is that Sudoku is far more interesting than a trial.
Editor