Mary Easley in court — for jury duty

North Carolina's former First Lady Mary Easley was called to the Wake County courthouse today — for jury duty.

Easley, a lawyer who has been at the center of a hiring scandal at N.C. State University, was excused from serving on a jury hearing a felony criminal case Tuesday morning, Sarah Ovaska reports.

Wake Superior Court Judge Paul Ridgeway agreed with a Wake assistant prosecutor that Easley wasn't the best fit to serve on the jury, and sent Easley back to see if any of the other courtrooms in the busy courthouse could use her on other jury panels.

The routine jury service comes at a difficult time for the former First Lady.

She and her husband Mike Easley have been a focus for a special grand jury meeting in the federal courthouse in Raleigh, just a few blocks away from the county courthouse in downtown Raleigh.

After stepping out of the courtroom Tuesday morning, Easley declined to talk about the  controversy surrounding her hiring nor the federal investigation surrounding her husband, a Democrat and former attorney general who was governor from 2001 to January 2009.

As she waited for an elevator to bring her back up to a meeting room for potential jurors, she did say that she'd never served on a jury before.

"I'm here for jury service," Mary Easley said. "That's the most important thing you should do."

More after the jump.

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Federal authorities, who do not comment on their investigations, have issued subpoenas and sought information related to the hiring, promotion, salary and other details of a position at NCSU that Easley held.

The NCSU trustees forced Mary Easley out last month amid continuing controversy about how she was hired in 2005 and then was offered a $170,000 per year position.

Former Gov. Mike Easley has said he is comfortable with an investigation into his years in public service.