Court Opinion

ID: 9796705
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 04:03:09.663789+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:51:03.147461
License: Public Domain

NEHRING, Justice,
concurring:
128 I concur in Justice Parrish's opinion. I write separately to address the dissent's opinion that we owe a great measure of deference to the trial court in reviewing this matter. Justice Wilkins writes that a trial judge is in a much better position than an appellate court to assess the contemporaneous circumstances surrounding the testimony of an interviewed juror, including the juror's body language, tone of voice, and behavior. I agree.
T29 In Justice Wilkins's interpretation of our role, when the "black and white photograph" of the record is at odds with the trial judge's ruling made on that record, we should assume that the trial judge drew on behavioral clues exhibited by the witness which, owing to the trial judge's superior vantage point, provided conclusive support for his decision. We should honor on-the-scene observations and experiences of a trial judge when we are told what those observations and experiences were. Here we were not.
1 30 What the record does disclose is that the trial judge found the juror to have made a false or misleading statement during voir dire. In the trial judge's words, "Plainly, she [Ms. Weinmuller] failed to answer and she omitted ... important information." The trial judge characterized as "strong feelings" the views the juror held about what she perceived to be the inequitable, pro-employee workers' compensation system in California which had victimized her family business. The judge noted that the plaintiff, who had received workers' compensation benefits, had been described during the trial as being the recipient of a "golden ticket."
31 Taken together, the trial judge's amply supported finding of a materially false statement, his error in relying on the juror's own assertions of her impartiality, and the absence of a reference to any rehabilitative demeanor displayed by the juror-in fact, the only comment about the juror's demeanor underscored her potential bias-lead me to conclude that the trial court exceeded its discretion. I therefore concur in Justice Parrish's opinion.
132 Chief Justice DURHAM and Justice DURRANT concur in Justice NEHRING's opinion.