BEIJING, Aug. 8 (Xinhuanet) -- New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was dismissed on his second day of jury duty Tuesday when he reported to State Supreme Court in Manhattan to hear a personal injury case.

    The billionaire mayor was ultimately not selected to serve on that jury, and officials ordered him to return to State Supreme Court Tuesday morning, where he could be picked for a different trial.

    Bloomberg appeared to be the only prospective juror dressed in a suit among the other 125 New Yorkers on Tuesday. He was trailed by security aides and press secretaries in tow, and surrounded by strangers seeking handshakes and autographs.

    He was called along with about 40 others into a courtroom where attorneys were set to begin picking a jury for an asbestos litigation suit. The plaintiff was a woman whose husband had died after years of operating a printing press that her attorneys said had asbestos in its brakes.

    Although the mayor portrayed himself as just another citizen performing his civic duty, it was hard to miss his presence at the courthouse.

    When the plaintiff's lawyer, James Long, asked potential jurors whether they would be comfortable expressing their opinions if the mayor were on the jury, no one spoke up to say they'd be influenced by the mayor.

    "I would be one voice of six, but I've got a strong personality, and you'd have to ask them what they think," Bloomberg said.

    Dismissed from the asbestos jury, the mayor was not depressed. “It's part of democracy,” he told reporters. "Makes you feel pretty good."

    (Agencies)