Just finished serving on a not-very-exciting two day personal injury lawsuit. I’m allowed to talk about anything, so ask away.
Describe the trial and the results.
What county was the trial in?
What kinds of personal questions did they ask you? Was it just name, address, and birthdate, or did they ask you questions about how many siblings you had and where they were, which child is your favorite, what college your high school BFF went to, and whether or not you think attorneys make too much money?
What was the key fact of the case that drove the jury to it’s decision?
Did any jurors change their minds during deliberations? How did that happen?
The basic facts of the case were as follows. On a winter day, the plaintiff and her three-year-old granddaughter did some shopping at a small local book store. After leaving the store, the plaintiff collided with a store employee on the sidewalk, who was operating a handtruck with a delivery of two boxes of books on it. The collision knocked her to the ground and she apparently suffered some injuries. She was suing the store for negligence related to the accident.
The plaintiff insisted that the handtruck ran into her. The handtruck operator said that he was stopped on the corner and that the plaintiff wasn’t looking where she was walking.
The plaintiff’s only witness was herself. There were no third-party bystanders. Additionally, the plaintiff’s lawyer read some brief excerpts of a deposition transcript given by the handtruck operator. (We weren’t told why he did not testify in person.)
The defense presented two witnesses. The first was the same deposition transcript, which they read in its entirety, including the parts that the plaintiff already read, but excluding a few small sections which the judge previously ruled inadmissible.
The second was an expert meteorologist who was paid $250/hr to report on the weather conditions in Brooklyn that day. His testimony seemed kind-of superfluous since both the plaintiff and defendant described the weather similarly. (There was light snow, but it wasn’t sticking, and the sidewalk was not slippery.)
We found that there was no negligence. Much was made of why the handtruck operator did not tape or strap the boxes to the cart when moving them. (Answer: because there were only two boxes and a very low risk of anything falling off.) We found this debate to also be pretty meaningless. At the end of the day, people bump into each other sometimes. Nobody was at fault.
Kings County (Brooklyn), NY.
Basically, the plaintiff did not meet the burden of proof for negligence. Even if the guy had strapped the boxes to his handtruck, the collision would still have happened. There was no evidence that anybody did anything unsafe to an unreasonable degree.
I was only an alternate, so I didn’t get to sit in on the actual deliberations ( 
) so my information about them comes from discussions with the other jurors after the fact. The deliberations themselves only took 25 minutes. Needless to say, there was not much controversy. The verdict was unanimous (a 5/6 majority is sufficient in NY civil cases.)
There was a brief written questionnaire which was one page long. That mostly asked our basic information (name, address, age) and our educational history and jobs. It also asked if we or our close relatives had been involved in any accident that resulted in litigation or worker’s comp claims, and if any of our relatives worked as lawyers or in law offices, or had medical training. We were also asked if we or anyone we know had been the victim of a violent crime. We were not asked about out opinions of lawyers.
After the lawyers went through the questionnaires, they asked for more details from the people who answered affirmatively in various categories.
Interestingly, a surprising number of potential jurors had close relatives who had been involved in accidents. I was surprised by how many of these people were not dismissed.
It took the better part of a day to whittle a pool of about 20 potential jurors down to six plus two alternates.
How did you feel about the lawyers who presented the case. What did you like about their presentation or personality and what didn’t you like?
Was there any sexy times between any of the jurors? Was the judge hot (you know, for a judge). Rate the overall sexiness of the experience.
My opinion of both was favorable, but I liked the plaintiff’s lawyer better. He spoke more confidently and seemed better organized. His speaking voice reminded me of Al Franken.
The defense’s lawyer seemed a little less organized and was admonished a couple times for minor procedural issues. He looked kinda like a skinnier Dick Cheney. He also had a habit of speaking a little too quietly for such a large room. I had no problem understanding him, though.
My favorite moment was during closing arguments. The defense insinuated in his argument that the plaintiff had been “deceptive,” to which the plaintiff’s lawyer vociferously objected, saying that the statement was “offensive” and “a direct attack on my character.” :eek: It was a nice bit of lawyerly theater. Then the guy had the balls to say “deceptive” again! At that point the judge said, “okay, you’ve said it twice, don’t say it three times.”
There were no observable sexy times amongst the jurors. (There wouldn’t have been time for it anyway, it’s not like we were sequestered in a hotel.)
One woman did offer a Power Bar to a guy who was hungry.
The judge was an elderly woman.
I would rate the overall sexiness of the experience a 2/10.
haha, thank you for humoring me.
In all seriousness now, did you learn anything new about the legal process? Did it leave you with an overall positive or negative point of view about how civil trials are run, etc. I guess I’m just asking, what was your overall impression of “the system” or of “justice” etc.
ETA: Just out of curiosity, what would a 1/10 be on your scale? And that powerbar comment really made me crack up laughing.
I would say that I did not learn anything new about the process per se, given that I grew up in a family of lawyers and so was familiar with the basics. I did learn the specific definitions of “negligence” and other terms under New York law as instructed by the judge, and I have thankfully already forgotten them.
My point of view on how the trial was run is positive overall, although I probably started out with a higher-than-most opinion of the justice system, anyway. (Not that I think it’s a bed of roses, but I think it does an adequate job most of the time.)
Kissing Grandma. On the lips.
What were the injuries? Did they seem legit or an attempted cash-grab?
Interestingly, we were told a little bit about the injuries during jury selection, and that they affected her right shoulder, arm and hand, and that she had required physical therapy of some kind. But at the trial, we heard absolutely no testimony about the injuries at all; the trial focused on the facts of the accident only.
I don’t know why or if the evidence of the injuries was excluded.
You referred to the deposition transcript itself as being one of the defense witnesses. Who read the transcript into the record? Was it the judge, one of the lawyers, or someone actually on the stand reading (or someone else I haven’t thought of)?
How many other exhibits did the jury see (if you know – I realize you weren’t in deliberations)? Were there hospital records involved?
How much time had passed between the date of the incident and the date the lawsuit was filed (or, if you don’t know when it was filed, then the date the case went to trial)?
Probably because it was a bifurcated trial… meaning, you had to decide negligence first. IF the jury had found sufficient evidence of negligence, then the second phase occurs where evidence of damages are presented. The jury would deliberate and come up with a &&&. Just my WAGS. I am a criminal defense attorney, not a civil attorney. Thank Og!
But that is what they do in criminal cases, in VA. Guilt or Innocence first. Then sentencing.
So Casey Anthony was working for a bookstore in Brooklyn, before she had to return to Florida to serve out her probation…that bitch gets off every time.
When the plaintiff’s side read their brief excerpt, the plaintiff’s lawyer read it into the record directly, after the judge gave permission. When the defense decided to read the entire thing into the record, an intern from the defense lawyer’s office took the stand and read it.
The defense only entered two exhibits into evidence, the deposition transcript and the certified NWS weather station reports that the expert witness brought. As far as I know, the regular jurors did not ask to examine any of the evidence themselves. There were no medical records at all.
The incident was in February of 2009, and the deposition that we heard was in October of 2009. I don’t know when the actual lawsuit was filed, but it is reasonable to conclude that it must have been some time before the deposition.
Yeah, that makes sense. The lawyers did mention during jury selection that it was a bifurcated process, but I assumed that meant we would hear all the evidence first and then the second part would be solely arguments about damages. I guess I did learn something, after all! 