"Never forget, almost every case has been won or lost when the jury is sworn." - Clarence Darrow 1936
"The change of a single juror in the composition of the jury could change the result." - Ter Keurst v. Miami Elevator Co., 486 So. 2d 547 (Fla. 1986), Justice Adkins, Dissenting
"Trial by jury is the best of all safeguards for the person and property of every individual." - Thomas Jefferson
Edgar Sylvester Whitby was prosecuted for permanently disfiguring his victim by throwing hot water on her. He was convicted of aggravated battery “by a clearly impartial jury” in an “otherwise error free” trial. But Edgar is a free man today, and the Supreme Court of Florida just turned down the State’s appeal of this case. State v. Whitby, 975 So. 2d 1124 (Fla. 2008). What happened? During jury selection the prosecutor sought to use […]
February 19, 2008
A $900,000 plaintiff’s verdict in a rear-end collision case was reinstated last Friday by the Fifth District Court of Appeal even though two jurors had failed to disclose in voir dire that they had been injured and received medical treatment as a result of prior car accidents. During jury selection, plaintiff’s counsel asked THREE times whether anyone had been injured in a car accident, and specifically asked the entire panel “Have any of […]
February 12, 2008
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