Charge: Colo. woman faked PTSD to duck jury duty

[March 22, 2012]  DENVER (AP) -- Susan Cole of Denver stood out in a jury pool last summer, with mismatched socks and shoes, and her hair in curlers.

District Judge Anne Mansfield dismissed the cosmetologist and author from jury duty after Cole said she "broke out of domestic violence in the military" and had post-traumatic stress disorder.

But when Cole told a radio show months later that she went to court disheveled to appear mentally ill, the judge was listening.

The Denver Post reports (http://bit.ly/GG9Y3h) that prosecutors charged Cole on Wednesday with perjury and attempting to influence a public servant.

An arrest affidavit says Cole felt emotionally drained and unprepared to serve on a jury after wrongly believing her cousin was in a fatal accident. However, investigators say Cole couldn't prove she was diagnosed with PTSD.

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Information from: The Denver Post, http://www.denverpost.com/

[Associated Press]

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