[bbfan1991]

A 9-year-old boy in Massachusetts was sent a letter summonsing him for jury duty.

Third-grader Jacob R Clark didn't even know what jury duty was when he discovered he was being called to appear in Orleans District Court.

"I was like, 'What's a jury duty?'" the boy told the Cape Cod Times.

His grandmother, Deborah Clark, said she initially told him it meant a day off school.

But she added that, once he understood that jury duty could mean facing people accused of crimes, Jacob was not keen at all, saying: "I don't want to go! I don't want to go!"

His father Robby had to call the jury commission to find out why his son had been contacted.

It turned out that, while the state agency got Jacob's name and address correct, someone had typed 1982 for his birth year instead of 2002.

"[Summonsing a child] doesn't happen that often," Massachusetts Jury Commissioner Pamela Wood said. "We hear about it once or twice a year."

Jacob was apparently relieved when he found out that he need not attend, although his grandmother warned him: "Some day you'll have to go."

It is not the first time that an inappropriate juror has been summonsed in Massachusetts.