Court Opinion

ID: 9549274
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 18:15:34.9599+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:20:03.782042
License: Public Domain

Miller, J.,
dissenting: I respectfully disagree with the majority opinion and therefore dissent.
My experience as a practicing lawyer and trial judge leads me to believe that as a rule Kansas jurors are extremely conscientious. I do not believe that the jurors in this case were any less conscientious than are our jurors generally.
These jurors were no doubt told that they could use their common knowledge and experience in evaluating the evidence and in arriving at their verdict. Such instructions are in general use. See PIK Civ. 2d 2.20 (1977).
During deliberations, it would not seem unlikely that one or more jurors would realize that the attorneys in the case do not work -free of charge. Such knowledge is not secret, and it is unlikely that a representative jury could be selected from among persons lacking that common knowledge. It is one of the facts of life. The matter is fully and persuasively discussed in the dissenting opinions of Justices Fatzer and O’Connor in Dunn v. White, 206 Kan. 278, 284, 287, 479 P.2d 215 (1970). If verdicts are to be set aside because jurors discussed and considered attorney fees during deliberations, I suggest that most verdicts will be suspect and retrials will become almost automatic. Jurors cannot be expected to function in a vacuum, divorced from the knowledge shared by their peers.
Likewise, jurors can add, multiply and subtract. That they do *265so, in arriving at what they decide is a just result, is not alarming and does not amount to misconduct.
The majority is directing the trial judge to invade the thought processes of the jurors, action forbidden by K.S.A. 60-441. The verdict in this case was modest. I agree with the distinguished judges of the Court of Appeals, and with the experienced trial judge, that the judgment entered on the verdict should be allowed to stand.
Schroeder, C.J., joins in the foregoing dissent.