Court Opinion

ID: 9775365
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 18:55:32.283433+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:32:25.426117
License: Public Domain

RICKHOFF, Justice,
concurring.
Billy Meacham had compelling liability and damage issues. As a tactic, he chose to present them in Maverick County, Texas, rather than before a Louisiana jury, where jurors familiar with the site might have been inclined to accredit their neighbors on the determinative issue—was the horn properly sounded by the conductor on the train that hit the van in which he was riding? That this tactic may have been improvident was raised by his point of error concerning outside influence on the deliberations. Double hearsay suggests that jurors may have felt this case traveled so far because, as Hispanics, they were perceived as more sympathetic and generous,1 and so, challenged by the stereotype, they dispelled it with their verdict. Had this point been supported by the record and occurred as outside influence the verdict would be unjust. Rumor that it is, it could be just another warning from South Texas jurors to be cautious about calling them to the courthouse.
As the majority opinion infers, these twelve jurors may have concluded that these out-of-state witnesses may have been so acclimated to train noise that they could not accurately recall the timing, number or sequence of the horn displays. These jurors were free to question the memory and perception of all the disinterested witnesses, reject their testimony and rely on the reputation of the conductor as competent. With this short addendum I join in the majority opinion.

. In Polaris Investment Management Corp. v. Abascal, 890 S.W.2d 486 (Tex.App.—San Antonio 1994, orig. proceeding [leave denied]) (substituted opinion), the record showed plaintiff’s attorneys sought to try a massive securities fraud case in Eagle Pass because "I got the largest verdict in the history of the United States there, and it didn't take me long to realize that's a friendly conclave.” Id. at 487. The record also showed attorneys thought the county’s status as predominantly Hispanic, as poor and with high unemployment would be reflected by individual jurors who would "identify] compassionately with deserving victims and sharply against corporate wrongdoing and fraud.” Id.