On jury duty, David Letterman auditioned for a role he’s never gotten
NEW YORK — The longtime host of “The Late Show with David Letterman” found himself answering questions instead of asking them when a federal judge in New York City put the entertainer through a sort of audition Monday for a possible role as a juror in a criminal case.
It was the serious setting of a crypto fraud criminal trial as Judge P. Kevin Castel grilled the famously bearded comedian, identified in court only as “Juror 16,” with questions, just as he did three dozen other potential jurors to determine who would sit on a panel of 12 jurors and four alternates.
The potential jurors had already survived a general round of questioning, in which individuals are dismissed for difficult reasons, such as medical problems or jobs from which they cannot be spared. The trial is expected to last less than two weeks.
When Letterman, who retired from the show in 2015, made it to the final round of judging, the judge threw a softball: “Where do you live?”
“Hartford,” Letterman replied, proving he couldn’t utter a single word without telling a joke.
“No, it’s a joke,” Letterman quickly informed the judge. Hartford is in Connecticut, which would have disqualified him from the jury because it’s outside the area where jurors come from.
“Nice try,” the judge replied, adding, “You thought you were going to leave out Queens,” another location outside the area covered by the Southern District of New York. Queens is in the Eastern District of New York.
After Letterman revealed his real hometown, Westchester County, the pair began a series of Q&As that totaled nearly three dozen times.
Along the way, the judge, attorneys and about three dozen potential jurors learned much about Letterman that the world already knows. He was born in Indianapolis, earned a degree from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, and has a 20-year-old son attending college in Massachusetts.
When asked what he does for a living, Letterman replied that he currently “works for a company called Netflix.”
“Husband or partner?” asked Castel.
“I’ve had both. Right now I just have the husband,” Letterman replied.
Asked how he gets his news, Letterman nodded to the past, saying, “Every morning I’d grab the newspaper off the porch. Now I turn on the computer and it’s a collection of news sources from all over the United States and around the world.”
When asked what he likes to watch besides the Netflix shows he’s involved with, Letterman replied, “I like sports.”
“I’m glad football is here. I’m glad it’s this time of year in baseball season. I love motorsports. I love pretty much everything that most Americans watch on TV,” he said.
The judge asked him if he was an Indianapolis Colts football fan.
“Big Colts fan. 0 and 2, but still a fan,” he said, referring to the fact that the Colts have lost their first two games this season.
Letterman indicated that his hobbies include fishing, skiing and being outdoors.
“Have you ever been called to serve as a juror?” the judge asked.
“Called several times. Just couldn’t make it happen,” Letterman replied.
“You know, maybe that’s the charm,” Castel said, knowing Letterman had a 50-50 chance of making the panel.
“That would be a pleasure,” Letterman said.
Finally, shortly before the jury was sworn in, Letterman was ejected when a prosecutor exercised a so-called “strike,” which allows lawyers on both sides to remove a certain number of potential jurors from the panel for any reason. It was the third of four strikes exercised by prosecutors. No reason was given.