Earlier this month, Defendant, Ghislaine Maxwell, petitioned the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York for a new trial based on a juror failing to disclose that he was a former victim of sexual abuse.  Maxwell was Jeffrey Epstein’s long-time companion and has been accused of recruiting four girls to be sexually abused by Epstein.  In late December 2021, Maxwell faced a month-long trial and ultimately […]

Earlier this summer, the Third District Court of Appeal reversed a criminal conviction due to a trial court’s improper Melbourne analysis.  In Brannon v. State, Defendant, Earl Brannon, was convicted of two counts of criminal trespass and one count of resisting arrest without violence.  During jury selection, the jurors were questioned regarding their prior interactions with law enforcement, as there was expected to be testimony from police officers during trial. […]

It has been over a year since many of us have been inside a courtroom, let alone in trial.  Now that courthouses are opening up across the county, we wanted to provide a refresher for the top ten cases you should have in your arsenal for jury selection in Florida.   Kochalka v.Bourgeois, 162 So. 3d 1122, (Fla 2nd DCA 2015) Defense verdict reversed in car crash case because juror […]

Last week, the Third District Court of Appeal granted a new trial in an auto crash case where the trial court improperly denied the Plaintiff’s cause challenge against a juror who expressed impartiality.  In Rivas v. Sandoval, ___ So. 3d ___ (2021), during jury selection the Plaintiff’s counsel questioned the venire about personal experiences with car crashes.  One juror stated both he and his son had been in a similar […]

Earlier this week in California, a mistrial was denied in a virtual jury trial when jurors were communicating with the Plaintiff through the Zoom “chat” feature.  This was a mesothelioma case involving claims for personal injuries against two companies who allegedly caused Plaintiff’s mesothelioma while he was working on Navy ships.  During trial, when the Judge and attorneys were speaking privately in a Zoom “breakout room,”  two jurors communicated with […]