Juries

Lawyer attributes his dozing at trial to cold medicine; 11 jurors said they noticed

The lawyer for a Pittsburgh man convicted of bank fraud on Monday acknowledges he nodded off several times during the trial. The lawyer, Stan Levenson, tells the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette he was sleepy because he was taking cold medicine. “I’m embarrassed about it, and it shouldn’t have happened,” Levenson said. Levenson’s…

Oct 27, 2016 8:00 AM CDT

Murder conviction is overturned because of judge’s plumber remarks

A California judge’s remarks about horrible experiences with plumbers were intended to warn potential jurors about the danger of prejudging witnesses. But they ended up backfiring. A California appeals court last week tossed the murder conviction of the defendant, Vincent Anthony Tatum, because he occasionally worked for a plumbing contractor…

Oct 13, 2016 7:00 AM CDT

TV ad tells viewers about banned information in tort trials; civil defense bar claims tampering

Insurance defense lawyers in Georgia aren’t happy about a law firm’s TV ad that reveals information about banned testimony in car-crash cases. The Daily Report (sub. req.) has the story on the ad by plaintiffs firm Morgan & Morgan, which is running in nine states where the firm has offices.…

Oct 12, 2016 8:45 AM CDT

You can’t always rely on physician testimony in malpractice cases, says doc who admits he lied

You can’t always trust testimony by doctors on behalf of colleagues being sued for malpractice, according to retired South Dakota physician Lars Aanning. Aanning knows from experience: He says he lied on behalf of a medical-clinic colleague in a malpractice trial about 15 years ago. Aanning wrote a “belated confession”…

Sep 28, 2016 7:50 AM CDT

Illinois law reducing civil juries to six people is unconstitutional, state’s top court rules

The Illinois Supreme Court has struck down an Illinois law that reduced civil juries from 12 to six people. The court ruled (PDF) on Sept. 22 that the law violated the Illinois Constitution, which guarantees “the right of trial by jury as heretofore enjoyed,” report the Associated Press, the Chicago…

Sep 26, 2016 10:39 AM CDT

Professor says data mining can improve jury selection

While advertisers, marketing companies and political campaigns routinely glean personal information about consumers and voters from databases, such data remain largely untapped when it comes to jury duty.

Sep 1, 2016 3:20 AM CDT

Don’t underestimate the value of comedy in the courtroom

Not long ago in these pages, a column asserted that humor is misplaced in the courtroom and proscribed for attorneys: “Don’t Be Funny: Litigation is no laughing matter to your clients” (November 2015). There is some truth in the observations: Misguided humor can be dangerous in the courtroom, especially inappropriate…

Sep 1, 2016 2:50 AM CDT

Judge refuses for-cause challenge to potential juror wearing Confederate flag T-shirt

A judge in South Carolina last week rejected a public defender’s for-cause challenge to a potential juror who showed up to the courthouse wearing a Confederate flag T-shirt. Assistant public defender Monier Abusaft asked a judge in York to remove the juror because Abusaft felt that the shirt and its…

Aug 31, 2016 8:00 AM CDT

Tim Kaine article struggled with ethics of striking jurors based on race, acknowledged he did it

Hillary Clinton’s running mate, Tim Kaine, once used his peremptory challenges to strike three whites from a jury in a housing discrimination case. And he admits he did so because of their race. Kaine told the story in an article for the University of Richmond Law Review in which he…

Aug 30, 2016 10:59 AM CDT

Criminal trials have become so scarce that federal judge had only one in his 4 years on the bench

U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman of Manhattan has been on the federal bench for more than four years, but he has presided over just one criminal trial during that time. Furman’s experience is not unusual amid a nationwide decline in both criminal and federal trials, the New York Times reports.…

Aug 11, 2016 7:45 AM CDT

Slow-motion videos of a crime can cause jurors to view wrongdoing as intentional, study finds

People who watch slow-motion videos are more likely to believe a wrongdoer acted with intent or premeditation, researchers have found. The study has implications for criminal trials in which jurors are shown surveillance video of the crime, Ars Technica reports. “Slow motion video caused participants to feel like the actor…

Aug 11, 2016 7:00 AM CDT

ABA House adopts measures intended to fight bias in schools and on juries

The ABA continued its series of measures on diversity and inclusion—a theme for outgoing ABA President Paulette Brown—on Tuesday by passing two resolutions on the subject. Passing without strong opposition was Resolution 115, which calls on local governments to adopt laws and policies aimed at ending the “school-to-prison pipeline.” That’s…

Aug 9, 2016 4:05 PM CDT

Judge agrees to suspension for Facebook comments, says he doesn’t believe prosecutor is a racist

A judge in Louisville, Kentucky, agreed to a suspension for his Facebook comments on Monday and said in an apology that he doesn’t believe a prosecutor is racist. Judge Olu Stevens resolved his ethics case when he agreed to a 90-day suspension, report the Louisville Courier-Journal, Courthouse News Service, the…

Aug 9, 2016 10:07 AM CDT

Juror strikes in capital murder case were based on race, SCOTUS rules

Race-based peremptory juror strikes in a capital murder case are unconstitutional.

Aug 1, 2016 2:50 AM CDT

What ‘Hamilton’ teaches lawyers about framing a story

The Broadway smash Hamilton teaches lawyers about framing a story.

Aug 1, 2016 2:40 AM CDT