Are Statutory Ceilings on Jury Damage Awards Constitutional in Tennessee?

Statutory caps on jury awards in personal injury cases have been around for decades. However, last week, the Tennessee Supreme Court received oral arguments urging the court to declare that a 2011 law capping damages violates the Tennessee Constitution. Knox News reports that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit recently declared the law violated Tennessee’s constitution, but it did so absent a ruling on the issue by the state supreme court. With the clock ticking to challenge the Circuit’s decision, Tennessee’s high court hopes to decide the issue for itself.

The Case of the Juror Making 7,000 Text Messages During High-Profile Murder Trial

Years after doctor Robert Neulander was convicted of murdering his wife, an alternate juror in the case reported that one juror was texting third parties throughout the trial. During the appeal process, a judge ordered a search of the texter’s phone which revealed some 7,000 messages were sent and many others were deleted. After an intermediate appellate court in New York threw out the conviction, the case is now destined for a final review by the New York Court of Appeals.

Prosecutor Campaigns for Election at the Courthouse – Will That Cause Reversal of a Jury Verdict?

Marvin Arrell Stanton is appealing his murder conviction in Texarkana, Arkansas by pointing to circumstances during his trial where the prosecutor in his case had arranged for the circulation of voter petitions supporting her candidacy to become a judge in that trial court. Post-trial discovery showed that one sitting juror in Stanton’s case and several prospective jurors signed the petition at the entry to the courthouse during jury selection.

Federal Court of Appeals Reverses a Conviction Because a Juror Slept Through Final Jury Instructions

In United States v. Brewer, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit reversed a bank robbery conviction because a juror slept through the final legal instructions to the jury and the judge did nothing about it. The appellate panel stated, “We conclude that the district court abused its discretion because it failed to ask any questions, make any findings, rule on Brewer’s request to replace the allegedly sleeping juror with an alternate, and/or failed to provide the jury with a written copy of the instructions.”

Atlanta DA Requires 8-Hours of Implicit-Bias Training for Prosecutors

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that DeKalb County DA Sherry Boston is requiring her entire 200+ member staff to take implicit-bias training from Dr. Bryant Marks, who founded the National Training Institute on Race and Equity and trained police forces in Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Seattle.

Deaf Juror Becomes Jury Foreman

From the UK, motherland of American jury trials, we learn that Matthew Johnston recently served as a juror in three trials during a two-week period. Remarkable about his service is that Mr. Johnston is profoundly deaf. He was able to read subtitles from courtroom stenographers and relied on his lip-reading skills to participate in jury deliberations.

Attention Jury Manager's Toolbox Users

The Center for Jury Studies recently implemented changes to the Jury Manager’s Toolbox (JMT). Most of these changes are internal and should be invisible for most users, but one change involved migrating the JMT to the cloud. Users may notice faster and more reliable connections. As always, we encourage users to contact us with any questions or suggestions to improve the platform.