Title: Zimmerman v. Witte Transp. Co.
Citation: 259 N.W.2d 260
Docket Number: 46734
State: Minnesota
Issuer: Minnesota Supreme Court
Date: October 14, 1977

259 N.W.2d 260 (1977) Patrice Marie ZIMMERMAN, by Mark Zimmerman, Her Father and Natural Guardian, and Mark Zimmerman, for Himself, Appellants, v. WITTE TRANSPORTATION COMPANY, et al., Respondents. No. 46734. Supreme Court of Minnesota. October 14, 1977. *261 Streater Murphy Brosnahan Langford &amp; Gernander, Roger P. Brosnahan, and Kent A. Gernander, Winona, for appellants. Brown Bins &amp; Klampe and Frederic N. Brown, Rochester, for respondents. Heard before TODD, MacLAUGHLIN and YETKA, JJ., and considered and decided by the court en banc. TODD, Justice. Patrice Zimmerman sustained personal injuries when she fell from her bicycle onto *262 a public highway where she was struck by a truck owned by Witte Transportation Company. The jury found the driver to be free of negligence but awarded plaintiffs damages. Following a newspaper report that Patrice would not recover any damages for her injuries, two of the jurors approached the trial judge regarding this result. After interviewing the jurors off the record, the trial court denied plaintiffs' motion for a Schwartz hearing. The court also denied a motion for a new trial or judgment notwithstanding the verdict. We affirm. At the time of the accident, Patrice Zimmerman, then 7 years old, was riding a bicycle from her home to a nearby church to attend summer catechism classes. She was accompanied by her two older sisters, who were then 9 and 10 years old. The highway was a two-lane roadway with a blacktop surface, 24 feet 6 inches wide and divided by a painted centerline. On the east side of the road was a shoulder of crushed rock, pebbles, and dirt extending 4 to 5 feet from the blacktop, and a sloping grassy area extending another 4 to 5 feet. As Patrice and her sisters were riding single file on the right-hand edge of the road surface, with Patrice in the lead, they became aware of a truck overtaking them. They left the road surface to stop on the gravel shoulder. The two older girls stopped their bicycles about 3 to 4 feet from the road surface. Patrice, however, either lost her balance or turned the wheel of her bicycle toward the truck, fell toward the road surface, and was struck by the rear wheels of defendants' truck. She was severely injured. The case was submitted to the jury on special interrogatories. The jury awarded $100,000 in damages to Patrice and $10,852.90 to her father. However, the jury determined that neither Patrice nor the truck driver was negligent. After the jury had rendered its verdict, two jurors expressed their belief that in rendering the verdict they assumed Patrice would be entitled to recover damages. Each of these jurors approached the court the day after the trial and informed the court of their assumptions on the issue of damages. Counsel for plaintiffs were contacted by persons who had talked to the jurors and who indicated that the jurors had been confused by the instructions of the court, had misunderstood the effect of their verdict, and had been under the impression that their verdict would entitle plaintiffs to recover from defendants. Plaintiffs' counsel presented the court with an affidavit setting forth the information he had received and requested a Schwartz hearing.[1] The trial court denied the request on the grounds that the situation did not constitute jury misconduct. The court had previously questioned the jurors in the absence of counsel and without making a record. The court told counsel it believed the jurors to be adamant in their opinion that the driver was not negligent. The following issues are presented for consideration on appeal: (1) Whether the trial court erred in denying plaintiffs' request for a Schwartz hearing. (2) Whether the defendant truck driver was negligent as a matter of law. (3) Whether the trial court erred in its instructions to the jury. The granting of a Schwartz hearing is generally a matter of discretion for the trial court. Its purpose is to avoid harassment of jurors and to provide a record on appeal in cases where, after the jury renders the verdict, the losing party becomes aware of facts which indicate the possibility of jury misconduct. At the first suspicion of misconduct, the attorney for the losing party should bring the matter to the attention of the trial court. If this procedure is not followed, the issue may not be raised for the first time in a motion for a new trial. Tupper v. Dirks, 292 Minn. 445, 193 N.W.2d 800 (1972). Neither an attorney *263 nor his agent should initiate questioning of jurors concerning possible misconduct. Olberg v. Minneapolis Gas Co., 291 Minn. 334, 343, 191 N.W.2d 418, 424 (1971). It is not improper, however, for an attorney to question jurors who take the initiative by approaching or telephoning the attorney to report facts which they believe constitute misconduct. 291 Minn. 344, 191 N.W.2d 425. If the facts appear to warrant action, the trial court may summon the juror who alleges jury misconduct and permit, with proper safeguards, an examination to be conducted in the presence of counsel for all interested parties and the trial judge. By adhering to this procedure, a record can be preserved for presentation to this court on appeal if any doubt exists about the correctness of the trial court's ruling. Schwartz v. Minneapolis Suburban Bus Co., 258 Minn. 325, 328, 104 N.W.2d 301, 303 (1960). Nothing should prevent the trial court from ordering a hearing based upon an oral assertion by counsel or hearsay affidavit. Moreover, trial courts should be liberal in granting such a hearing. Olberg v. Minneapolis Gas Co., 291 Minn. 334, 343, 191 N.W.2d 418, 424. These procedures were not followed in the instant case by the trial court, and a record was not made in the presence of counsel concerning the statements of the jurors. However, the trial judge did make the following statement in his memorandum accompanying the order denying plaintiffs' motions: Counsel for plaintiffs in his affidavit to support the request for a Schwartz hearing stated in part: Obviously, it is desirable to put jurors' statements concerning possible misconduct on the record and this should be done. However, in this case, the trial judge was unequivocal in his recollection of statements made to him by the jurors concerning their opinion that the truck driver was not negligent. This single fact distinguishes the present case from our decision in Ramfjord v. Sullivan, 301 Minn. 238, 222 N.W.2d 541 (1974), which involved a situation where, after the jury returned a verdict containing a clerical error, the trial court further instructed the jury without the presence of either attorney and without making a record and then ordered the jury to retire to correct the error. In disapproving of the trial court's examination of jurors concerning possible misconduct, without the presence of the attorneys or without making an appropriate record of the proceedings, we stated (301 Minn. 252, 222 N.W.2d 550): In the case at hand, however, the trial judge was not confused, nor was his memory hazy, about exactly what the jurors had related to him on the issue of jury misconduct. In essence, the jurors were seeking to impeach their own verdict. This does not constitute clerical error which can be corrected through a Schwartz hearing. See, State v. Hoskins, 292 Minn. 111, 193 N.W.2d 802 (1972); Weber v. Stokely-Van Camp, Inc., 274 Minn. 482, 144 N.W.2d 540 (1966); Bauer v. Kummer, 244 Minn. 488, 70 N.W.2d 273 (1955). We thus hold that the trial court did not commit error in denying plaintiffs' motion for a Schwartz hearing. Further, we have reviewed the record of these proceedings and find plaintiffs' remaining allegations of error to be without merit. Affirmed. YETKA, Justice (dissenting). I dissent. I do not believe that trial counsel should be required to rely on a trial judge's recollection of what occurred during the court's discussion with jurors during or subsequent to trial. Plaintiffs argue the presence of clerical error in the jury's verdict. Generally, after the jury has been discharged, no affidavit of a juror or a third person concerning a juror's remarks will be received to impeach the verdict where the facts sought to be shown inhere in the verdict itself. E. g., Weber v. Stokely-Van Camp, Inc., 274 Minn. 482, 491, 144 N.W.2d 540, 545 (1966). This includes attempts to show that the jurors misunderstood the evidence, the charge of the court, or the legal consequences of their factual findings. Bauer v. Kummer, 244 Minn. 488, 490, 70 N.W.2d 273, 275 (1955); 14 Dunnell, Dig. (3 ed.) § 7109; 66 C.J.S., New Trial § 169. Clerical errors, however, are an exception to this rule. Bauer v. Kummer, 244 Minn. 488, 491, 70 N.W.2d 273, 275; Paul v. Pye, 135 Minn. 13, 159 N.W. 1070 (1916); 8 Wigmore, Evidence (McNaughton Rev.) § 2355; 66 C.J.S., New Trial, § 169m. The standards for relief from clerical errors are set forth in Bauer v. Kummer, 244 Minn. 488, 491, 70 N.W.2d 273, 275: In support of his request for a Schwartz hearing, plaintiffs' attorney supplied the following affidavit: Based on the previously enunciated standards, it is apparent that most of the conduct alleged in the affidavit would not constitute grounds to impeach a verdict. For the most part, the allegations concern misunderstandings about the jury instructions and misunderstandings about the legal consequences of their verdict. Neither of these are grounds for impeaching a verdict. The final sentence alleges, however, "that the jurors have indicated that they thought the truck driver was negligent and would have found him so had they been aware this was necessary in order for the plaintiffs to recover." This might be interpreted in one of two ways. On the one hand, it might indicate the jury decided the driver was negligent but failed to so indicate on the special verdict form; this would be a clerical error. On the other hand, the same language might be read as indicating the jury decided the driver was not negligent but merely misunderstood the legal consequences of their finding; this would not be grounds for impeaching a verdict. *266 Unfortunately, the trial court did not grant a Schwartz hearing. The trial court did examine two jurors; however, neither of the attorneys was present at the time and no record was made of the proceedings. Instead, the trial court merely denied the motion for the Schwartz hearing along with the other post-trial motions. As a result, there is no record to review the decision on appeal. The trial court appears to have misapprehended the grounds for a Schwartz hearing. One of the purposes of a Schwartz hearing is to provide a forum for review of possible grounds for impeaching the verdict in a manner consistent with judicial safeguards and in so doing, to provide a record on appeal for reviewing the decision. The decision to grant the hearing should not be based solely on whether the affidavit taken alone would justify a decision on the merits. Rather, the decision should be based on whether the allegations of the affidavit raise sufficient justification for further inquiry into possible grounds for impeachment of the verdict. By necessity, this requirement must be liberally construed. I believe that in the instant case the trial court abused its discretion in not permitting the attorneys to be present at the questioning and in not making a verbatim record of the proceedings. It would appear that it was incumbent on the trial court to conduct more than a preliminary, sua sponte inquiry into the substance of the charges. This court has previously indicated that trial counsel should not be required to rely on a court's recollection of his discussion with the jury. In Ramfjord v. Sullivan, 301 Minn. 238, 222 N.W.2d 541 (1974), this court dealt with a situation where the jury returned a verdict containing a clerical error. Without either attorney being present, and without making a record, the trial court further instructed the jury and ordered it to retire to correct its error. We reversed and remanded for a new trial for the reasons set out in the majority opinion. Therefore, in the situation presented here, it was incumbent on the trial court at least to call in a court reporter to make a record of his conferences with the two jurors so that the attorneys for both parties would have a record on which they could determine the propriety of a motion for a Schwartz hearing. SCOTT, Justice (dissenting). I concur with the dissent by Mr. Justice Yetka. WAHL, J., not having been a member of this court at the time of the argument and submission, took no part in the consideration or decision of this case. [1] This is the proper method of receiving and presenting information to the court with respect to a request for a Schwartz hearing.