Finally, something to smile about during jury duty!
Seventeen members of Queens grand jury — plus one court officer — today learned that their shared Powerball ticket hit for a nifty $10,000 payout.
“Sometimes is pays to do jury duty,” quipped Queens DA Richard Brown after word spread in the Kew Gardens courthouse about the “grand” prize jurors won when four numbers plus the Powerball on their $2 ticket were drawn Wednesday.
The jurors bought tickets as a group with the court officer Wednesday, picking their own numbers. Six of the grand jurors did not participate.
“Put my birthday in!,” yelled some, sources said. “Put my anniversary in!”
The winners were beaming when they walked into court yesterday, although sources said they were irked at missing the whopping $588 million jackpot by just one number. Each winner’s share is $555 — about $500 after taxes.
But the jurors, whose identities are secret, got some extra luck yesterday — they were released from their service on an undisclosed case, after serving two days per week for the past six months.
Meanwhile, holders of the two winning tickets for the $588 million jackpot failed to step forward yesterday. The winning tickets were sold at shops in Dearborn, Mo. and Fountain Hills, Ariz.