By of the

Ivana Samardzic better be having a great time in Cancun, Mexico, because when she gets back to Milwaukee County, she'll be facing a much less welcome kind of heat.

Samardzic, 20, skipped out of jury duty last week - after she already had begun deliberating the fate of a man charged in a felony shooting case.

"We've had people disappear from a trial," Lori Watson-Schumann, director of jury management with 19 years on the job, said Tuesday. "But not from deliberations."

The jury got the case of Spartacus Outlaw last Wednesday afternoon and met about two hours before being sent home with specific instructions to all reappear the next morning for continued deliberations.

But only 11 jurors showed up. Samardzic was apparently already on her way south.

"She called the clerk from O'Hare to say she was about to board a flight to Cancun," defense attorney Robert D'Arruda said. "But she said it was OK because she'd done her three days and left her vote with the foreman."

D'Arruda said his client agreed to proceed with the 11 jurors, and Milwaukee County Circuit Judge J.D. Watts instructed them that they should proceed without "Juror #4" and disregard any comments she might have made during the start of deliberations. The judge did not indicate to the rest of jury members why one of their panel was not there, D'Arruda said.

The jury found Outlaw guilty of being a felon in possession of a gun but could not reach a verdict on a charge of first-degree reckless injury with a dangerous weapon, resulting in a mistrial on that count. The vote was 8-3, so Samardzic's vote alone might not have mattered.

D'Arruda said he could only recall that Samardzic was single, worked in a nursing home and among the more quiet jurors on the panel.

Watts said he couldn't comment on what he called "the runaway juror" but said he has ordered Samardzic back into court next week.

"I suspect I'll have things to say Aug. 28," he said.

Most people know you can usually avoid service if you have a decent reason or conflict - even a vacation.

"There are about seven million ways to get out of it," said Watson-Schumann, the jury management director. "I'm guessing it could just be her youth," she said of Samardzic, who has no record of prior jury service.

But even a young person should have had no confusion about the duty. Watson-Schumann said it is explained four times in the paperwork that the obligation is two days or the duration of the trial if you're picked to serve.

The message is repeated at the jury assembly room and during a video they all watch, she said.

She said attempts to contact Samardzic since last week were unsuccessful.

Samardzic also did not return a reporter's message sent through Facebook.

Whatever sanction, fine or lecture Samardzic might face from Watts, she'll also be thrown right back into the hopper for jury duty without the usual four-year reprieve.

"We're going to have her right back here in September," Watson-Schumann said.