"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
A trial court’s decision was reversed early in June for failing to strike a juror based on her nonverbal behavior. The Fifth District Court of Appeal held that a juror being “not particularly engaged” during jury selection was a legally sufficient race-neutral reason to strike the juror. Travelers Home and Marine Ins. Co., v. Gallo, 2018 WL 2448799 (Fla. 5th DCA, June 1, 2018). At trial, after concluding voir dire, […]
July 3, 2018
Earlier this week, in a medical malpractice wrongful death trial in Gainesville, the defense lawyers did a very thorough job questioning the prospective jurors during voir dire. Below are a few of the questions they used to evaluate the panel from the defense perspective. Defendant, Mrs. X, represents the hospital. She has a right to be in the courtroom. She has a right to defend herself. She says she didn’t […]
November 10, 2017
A trial judge is Vero Beach was reversed last week for restricting defense counsel’s questions during jury selection. The defense lawyer in the case had been forced by the judge into going to trial without his client being present. As a result, during jury selection several of the prospective jurors raised questions about his client’s absence and whether his client was required to be present during the trial. This caused the judge, who apparently was upset by […]
April 9, 2015
During jury selection in a civil trial a prospective juror stated in open court that he was familiar with one of the defendant’s expert medical witnesses. The juror said the expert had “kind of screwed-up my dad’s back,” and that his dad had filed a lawsuit against the doctor. The defense lawyer then moved to strike the entire thirty-seven member jury panel because of the prospective juror’s negative comment. Thereafter, […]
January 30, 2013
The Third District Court of Appeal recently held that the failure of trial counsel to perform background checks during trial on the members of the jury – as was suggested by the judge be done during this trial – may constitute a lack of due diligence, thereby precluding any right to a new trial based on later-discovered juror concealment after the jury’s verdict. Tricam Industries Inc v Coba, 100 So. […]
September 11, 2012
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