Court Opinion

ID: 9778709
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 21:16:56.075644+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:33:12.737465
License: Public Domain

LIMBAUGH, Judge.
This appeal arises from an action brought on behalf of Sheila Brines, a minor, against Gerhard Cibis, M.D., and King Lee, M.D., for alleged negligence in the care and treatment of Brines’ congenital glaucoma. A jury returned a defendant’s verdict by a 9-3 vote, and the trial court entered judgment accordingly. Brines appealed to the Court of Appeals, Western District; thereafter, this Court granted transfer. The judgment is reversed.
Brines argues that the trial court erred in overruling her motion for a new trial because a juror who voted in favor of the defendants intentionally failed to disclose at voir dire that he had been sued on eight previous occasions. Williams v. Barnes Hospital, 736 S.W.2d 33 (Mo. banc 1987), states Missouri’s test to distinguish between intentional and unintentional nondisclosure:
Intentional nondisclosure occurs: 1) where there exists no reasonable inability to comprehend the information solicited by the question asked of the prospective juror, and 2) where it develops that the prospective juror actually remembers the experience or that it was of such significance that his purported forgetfulness is unreasonable. (Citations omitted.)
Unintentional nondisclosure exists where, for example, the experience forgotten was insignificant or remote in time, ... or where the venireman reasonably misunderstands the question posed, (Citations omitted.)
Id. at 36.
Nondisclosure, whether intentional or unintentional, can occur only after a clear question is asked on voir dire. Wingate v. Lester E. Cox Medical Center, 853 S.W.2d 912, 916 (Mo. banc 1993). During jury selection, the trial judge asked: “Do we have anyone on the [jury] panel who is now or has been a defendant in a lawsuit?” This question unequivocally triggered the prospective jurors’ duty to disclose previous lawsuits against them. The juror in question remained silent even though he had been a defendant in eight lawsuits. His silence establishes nondisclosure.
Whether the nondisclosure was intentional or nonintentional is more problematic. At the post-trial proceeding on the motion for a new trial, the juror acknowledged that he had been sued eight times and that on each occasion he received a personal summons. All of the lawsuits were filed within the previous six years. Seven of the eight lawsuits were brought by doctors to collect for medical services; the other was brought by an insurance company claiming damages due to an automobile accident in which the juror was involved. When the juror was asked, “And at that time [jury selection] ... you knew that you had been a defendant in at least the eight lawsuits that we discussed, correct?”, the juror responded, “I knew that I had been sued by doctors, yes.” When asked to explain his silence, the juror testified, “It just didn’t click”; “It just didn’t connect”; the prior lawsuits simply did not “pop into” his head.
After the post-trial proceeding, the trial judge entered the following findings: “Upon the whole of the circumstances, the court finds [the juror’s] explanation for nondisclosure of the several collection lawsuits to be honest, cogent and reasonable and accordingly concludes that said non-disclosure was unintentional.” These findings are given great weight and will not be disturbed on appeal unless the trial court abused its discretion. Anglim v. Missouri Pacific R.R., 832 S.W.2d 298, 306 (Mo. banc 1992). In this case, however, the evidence did not support the trial court’s findings. Given that the juror understood that he was being asked to reveal any lawsuits against him, that all the lawsuits were of recent vintage, and that he actually recalled the lawsuits, the explanation for his silence was unreasonable. Therefore, the trial court abused its discretion in finding unintentional nondisclosure.
*140Citing several Court of Appeals opinions, Doctors Cibis and Lee argue that “[if] a party fails to prove prejudice, a new trial is not warranted, regardless of whether the juror’s nondisclosure is intentional or unintentional.” See Alexander v. F.W. Woolworth, 788 S.W.2d 763 (Mo.App.1990); Washburn v. Medical Care Group, 803 S.W.2d 77 (Mo.App.1990); and Beeks v. Hierholzer, 831 S.W.2d 261 (Mo.App.1992). In Williams, however, this Court rejected a requirement that a party prove prejudice if the intentional nondisclosure involved a material issue. “Having found intentional concealment, bias and prejudice must be presumed to have influenced the verdict.” Williams, 736 S.W.2d at 38. Noting the importance of full juror disclosure, this Court held that “[i]f a juror intentionally withholds material information requested on voir dire, bias and prejudice are inferred from such concealment. For this reason, a finding of intentional concealment has ‘become tantamount to a per se rule mandating a new trial.’” (Citations omitted.) Id. at 37. Only where a juror’s intentional nondisclosure does not involve a material issue, or where the nondisclosure is unintentional, should the trial court inquire into prejudice. Id. at 37. To the extent that Alexander, Washburn, and Beeks hold otherwise, they are overruled.
Although none of the parties expressly address the materiality aspect of the intentional nondisclosure, questions and answers pertaining to a prospective juror’s prior litigation experience are material. The fact that a prospective juror has been sued as a defendant or has prosecuted cases as a plaintiff may cause the juror to be predisposed to defendants or to plaintiffs, as the case may be. The possibility of that predisposition makes the questions and answers material.
Finally, Doctors Cibis and Lee contend that Brines should be barred from claiming juror nondisclosure because Brines did not exercise “due diligence” in discovering the nondisclosure. Specifically, they argue that “by using due diligence, [Brines] could have learned well before the jury began its deliberations that [the juror] had been sued.” If the juror were then challenged and removed, the need for a new trial could have been avoided.
This “due diligence” proposal, as we perceive it, is designed to prevent “sandbagging” so that litigants cannot reserve objections to errors that are curable during trial. This Court, however, has already fashioned a rule that adequately addresses that concern. A litigant who is privy to information regarding a prospective juror’s false answer or nondisclosure waives any right to complain after trial by failing to challenge the juror when the information was obtained. Cook v. Kansas City, 358 Mo. 296, 214 S.W.2d 430, 433 (1948). This rule does not, however, require that a litigant investigate whether the prospective jurors have answered the questions truthfully unless the litigant had some indication that the answer was false. See Jay M. Zitter, Effect of Juror’s False or Erroneous Answer on Voir Dire Regarding Previous Claims or Actions Against Himself or His Family, 66 A.L.R.4th 509 (1988) (compiling cases where attorney having reason to believe that jurors’ answers were false had duty to investigate). Although this Court wrote of a “due diligence” requirement in Woodworth v. Kansas City Public Service Co., 274 S.W.2d 264 (Mo.1955), it actually rejected a duty to investigate prospective juror’s answers. The “due diligence” referred to in Woodworth is that required of litigants who actually know of the juror’s nondisclosure or false answers. In our view, the delays and logistical difficulties in imposing a duty to investigate every juror’s answers outweigh the benefits derived from that duty. The requirement that litigants challenge jurors when the nondisclosure be- . comes apparent is sufficient to prevent abuse.
To summarize, the failure to disclose eight prior lawsuits was intentional nondisclosure on a material issue. Heeding the Williams mandate, we reverse the judgment of the trial court and remand for new trial.
BENTON, THOMAS, PRICE and ROBERTSON, JJ., concur.
HOLSTEIN, J., dissents in separate opinion filed.
COVINGTON, C.J., concurs in opinion of HOLSTEIN, J.