Opinion ID: 386888
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Jury Animosity

Text: 8 On the fourth day of trial, one juror was heard to say to another, Another goddamn day. The plaintiffs asked the court to order a new jury impaneled on damages and to inform the jury that they would be discharged after determining liability. The plaintiffs did not seek a mistrial nor did they ask to strike the complaining juror. 9 There is a still unanswered question whether the seventh amendment right to a jury trial permits the separate phases of a trial to be submitted to different juries. See Alabama v. Blue Bird Body Co., 573 F.2d 309, 318 (5th Cir. 1978); Swofford v. B & W, Inc., 336 F.2d 406, 415 & n. 11 (5th Cir. 1964), cert. denied, 379 U.S. 962, 85 S.Ct. 653, 13 L.Ed.2d 557 (1965); Link v. Mercedes-Benz of North America, Inc., 550 F.2d 860, 866 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 431 U.S. 933, 97 S.Ct. 2641, 53 L.Ed.2d 250 (1977) (Seitz, C. J., concurring); Arthur Young & Co. v. United States District Court, 549 F.2d 686, 693 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 829, 98 S.Ct. 109, 54 L.Ed.2d 88 (1977) (submission of distinct issues concerning defenses to different jury does not violate seventh amendment); In re Master Key Antitrust Litigation, 528 F.2d 5, 15 (2d Cir. 1975); Hosie v. Chicago and North Western Railway Co., 282 F.2d 639, 642 (7th Cir. 1960), cert. denied, 365 U.S. 814, 81 S.Ct. 695, 5 L.Ed.2d 693 (1961); Martin v. Bell Helicopter Co., 85 F.R.D. 654 (D.Colo.1980). See also 9 C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure: Civil § 2391, at 302 (1971). It was wise for the trial judge to avoid the constitutional problem if he could properly do so. The trial judge acted within his discretion in denying the request to impanel a new jury for the trial of the damages issue. There was no indication that any juror's verdict was tainted, nor is there any indication that the remark represented anything but impatience with a slow pace. Lawyers may expect jurors patiently to abide all their foibles, and, indeed, in the best of worlds, judges and jurors would be endowed with superhuman compassion. Not every manifestation of irritation with a slow trial, however, is sufficient to warrant a new start.