Court Opinion

ID: 9513534
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-06 22:37:23.286242+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:05:53.959554
License: Public Domain

NEUMANN, Justice,
concurring in result.
[¶ 61] I concur in the result reached by the majority, although I agree with much of the dissent’s analysis.
[¶ 62] For the reasons articulated in the dissent, I agree Brown and Edling should not have been allowed to participate in the trial, as a matter of law, and the trial court abused its discretion in denying severance. I also agree with the dissent that the trial court’s erroneous analysis of the severance issue led to its erroneous grant of additional peremptory challenges. I part company with the dissent, however, as to whether this should constitute reversible error.
[¶ 63] There is no North Dakota case law telling us whether a showing of prejudice is required to obtain a new trial when one party is allowed too many peremptory challenges. However, under our harmless error rule, “[t]he court at every stage of the proceeding must disregard any error or defect in the proceeding which does not affect the substantial rights of the parties.” N.D.R.Civ.P. 61. Rule 59(b), N.D.R.Civ. P., specifies a new trial may be granted when a trial court’s abuse of discretion prevents a party from receiving a fair trial and affects the substantial rights of the party.
[¶ 64] As acknowledged by the dissent, the cases from other jurisdictions are divided on whether a showing of prejudice is required to warrant a new trial when excessive peremptory challenges are erroneously granted. See G.R. Jacobi, Annotation, Effect of Allowing Excessive Number of Peremptory Challenges, 95 A.L.R.2d 957 (1964 & Supps.1993 & 2001). The majori*256ty rule seems to be that some showing of prejudice is required:
The numerical weight of authority in civil cases supports the rule that a judgment will not be reversed for error in allowing one or more peremptory challenges in excess of that provided by statute, unless the complaining party shows that he has exhausted his peremptory challenges and has suffered material injury from the action of the court, and that as a result thereof one or more objectionable jurors sat on the case, or for some other equally cogent reasons.
Id. at 968. I am persuaded by the rationale of the jurisdictions aligned with the majority rule.
[¶ 65] The question, I believe, is whether Praus received a fair trial despite the trial court’s erroneous allocation of per-emptories. Edling and Brown were each allowed to strike two additional prospective jurors. Absent some basis to challenge them for cause, those jurors, in my opinion, should have been allowed to remain on the jury. However, Praus has no basis to complain as long as four unbiased people were selected in their places, and Praus has shown no reason to doubt this happened.
[¶ 66] A party has a right to an impartial jury, not to have certain individuals on the jury. Because I believe Praus received a fair jury, it is my opinion Praus’s substantial rights were not affected, and I would deem the trial court’s erroneous allocation of peremptory challenges harmless error.
[¶ 67] William A. Neumann