GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- A juror in federal court spent one night in the Kent County Jail after he refused to take an oath of service with his fellow jurors, likely an unprecedented act in West Michigan, according to a court order.

Steven Phillip Freed, 45, was selected as an alternate juror for an estimated three-week trial in United States District Court. Freed on Tuesday, July 30, refused when jurors were instructed to stand and be sworn, Judge Robert Jonker wrote in a court order.

Freed, who lives in Hart in Oceana County, did eventually stand, but did not take oath, the court order states.

"When questioned by the Court, he persisted in his refusal to take the oath and submit to jury service as required by the original juror summons, by his ultimate selection to serve and by the direct order of the Court," Jonker wrote.

Freed was held in civil contempt and spent the night in Kent County Jail after declining to purge himself of contempt, which would've required he submit to the oath and participate as a juror in the three-week trial. Another juror was selected to take Freed's place.

Jonker wrote that Freed had hoped his refusal to be sworn as a juror would free him of his service to the court. Freed would be held in custody until the jury in the case was discharged unless he agreed to take oath and be present for the trial, Jonker wrote.

Jonker's order states he found a dearth of case law on civil contempt for jurors because people generally serve even when it is difficult or inconvenient.

"In the experience of the Court and the six attorneys present in the Courtroom at the time of the contempt, no one was personally aware of any precedent for this kind of juror behavior," Jonker wrote.

Freed was released from jail on Wednesday, July 31. It was unclear if he was transferred to another facility or cooperated with the judge's order.

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