Court Opinion

ID: 9717225
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 07:00:20.948905+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:52.089391
License: Public Domain

*797Abrams, J.
(concurring). In Markee v. Biasetti, ante 785 (1991), I concurred with Justice Wilkins favoring a rule which required that a party moving for a new trial based on evidence that the jury were exposed to extraneous material make some showing that he was prejudiced by the jury misconduct. The jurisdictions are split: some courts place the burden on the nonmoving party to show that there was no reasonable likelihood that the jury were influenced by exposure to extraneous material, but more courts require that the moving party show that he was prejudiced by the extraneous material before the jury. See cases cited, ante 795 n.4; Borden v. St. Louis Southwestern Ry., 287 Ark. 316, 320 (1985); Williams v. Salamone, 192 Conn. 116, 120 (1984); Meirick v. Weinmeister, 461 N.W.2d 348, 350 (Iowa Ct. App. 1990); Maslinski v. Brunswick Hosp. Center, Inc., 118 A.D.2d 834, 835 (N.Y. 1986); Kansas City S. Ry. v. Chaf-fin, 658 S.W.2d 186, 189 (Tex. Ct. App. 1983); cert, denied, 469 U.S. 854 (1984); Richard S. v. Overlake Hosp. Medical Center, 59 Wash. App. 266, 271 (1990); Zanetti Bus Lines, Inc. v. Logan, 400 P.2d 482, 488 (Wyo. 1965); Annot., 31 A.L.R.4th 623 (1984). I reaffirm my preference for the latter approach. Such a rule is consistent with other rules governing the grant of a new trial because of trial error in a civil matter. See Markee, supra at 789-790 (Wilkins, J., concurring). However, in Markee, supra, the court chose to place the burden on the nonmoving party to demonstrate that there was no reasonable likelihood that the jury were influenced by the extraneous material. I accept, as I must, the court’s choice of rule. Therefore, I concur in the result.1

In light of the court’s ruling, it is particularly important that trial judges caution the jury at the outset of a trial as to what materials they may consider in their deliberations.