Miscellaneous

Mind-Altering Case

By Anne Skove, Esq.

Juror questions, a headliner issue for any discussion about jury trial innovations, used to make us a bit queasy. Once we start allowing juror questions, what's left for everyone else -- lawyers, judges, the legal system as a whole -- to do? It seemed the first trip down a slippery slope toward anarchy and messy disorder.

But a local case has us troubled. The case of Ryan Widmer also apparently troubled at least one juror enough to issue a sworn statement alleging juror misconduct.

Can we be smug and say we saw this coming? Not only did this appear to be a difficult case, with lengthy (for the jurisdiction) deliberations, but we also heard some alarming post-trial commentary by one juror who claimed that his female co-panelists shared personal expertise regarding French manicures. Part of the defendant's theory was that the wife would have fought back if she had been attacked. Women on the panel noted that with a French manicure (which the wife had), scratching is impossible. (This discussion was not one of the sins mentioned in the statement.)

How could these problems have been avoided? If jurors could have asked questions about unclear facts, perhaps they wouldn't have gone the DIY route. How long does it take for a body to dry off? Mr. Widmer claimed his wife drowned in the tub, unassisted. First responders found her body in the bedroom, no water around. Jurors started noticing things, like how much water was on the floor after their kids took baths. One went so far as to lie on her bedroom floor after taking a bath to see how long it would take to dry off.

Yet, ever since State v. Gilden (OH 2001) 759 NE 2d 468, Ohio has deemed juror questions to witnesses to be inherently prejudicial.

With proper procedures, rules, and protocols in place, juror questions can help courts (and parties) stem juror misconduct. Mistrials, retrials, appeals, juror time, judicial breath, and the lives of parties involved could all be the better for juror questions. (Wow, when we turn around, we really commit!)

See Juror Alleges Misconduct, Janice Morse, Cincinnati Enquirer (April 10, 2009). See also Noted, court-o-rama (February 2, 2009), and the thoroughly thorough Juror Questions Pilot Program Reports from New Jersey.

Full post as published by court-o-rama.org on April 10, 2009 (boomark / email).