Hypothetical 9: A plaintiff seeks $50,000 in damages from a defendant, and the defendant counterclaims for $50,000 in damages. The jury's verdict form appears to award the plaintiff $20,000 in damages and the defendant $30,000 in damages (e.g., $10,000 to the defendant). After the verdict is entered, jurors come forward and claim that the $20,000 in damages listed for the plaintiff was the net amount that they intended to award it, and the $30,000 allegedly awarded to the defendant was intended to be the amount deducted from the $50,000 sought by the plaintiff to reach the total final billing of $20,000. Will the juror affidavits be admissible to “correct” the verdict? Cf. , (N.C.App. 2010) 2010 WL 2367110; Colin Miller, . EvidenceProf Blog, June 16, 2010, VII. Situations Where Rule 606(b) Does Not Apply A. Testimony by Nonjurors As the text of and Justice O’Connor’s opinion in Tanner make clear, Rule 606(b) only governs testimony by jurors. Therefore, if a nonjuror observes jury misconduct, she can impeach the jury’s verdict. For example, in Tanner, Justice O’Connor cited to the Fourth Circuit’s opinion in , 558 F.2d 724 (4th Cir. 1977), in which a judge sent a Marshal to accompany jurors to a private club to deliberate and the Marshal was allowed to impeach their verdict through testimony regarding their consumption of alcoholic beverages during deliberations. Hypothetical 10: Robert Lamb is convicted of the murder of his sister. After Lamb was convicted, he brought a motion for a new trial based upon the following facts: The trial judge, who had a scheduling conflict, left the jury in another judge's charge on its second day of deliberations. Thereafter, the foreman told the bailiff he had a note for the judge. The bailiff saw the note, which asked about the difference between first- and second-degree
Hypothetical 9: A plaintiff seeks $50,000 in damages from a defendant, and the defendant counterclaims for $50,000 in damages. The jury's verdict form appears to award the plaintiff $20,000 in damages and the defendant $30,000 in damages (e.g., $10,000 to the defendant). After the verdict is entered, jurors come forward and claim that the $20,000 in damages listed for the plaintiff was the net amount that they intended to award it, and the $30,000 allegedly awarded to the defendant was intended to be the amount deducted from the $50,000 sought by the plaintiff to reach the total final billing of $20,000. Will the juror affidavits be admissible to “correct” the verdict? Cf. , (N.C.App. 2010) 2010 WL 2367110; Colin Miller, . EvidenceProf Blog, June 16, 2010, VII. Situations Where Rule 606(b) Does Not Apply A. Testimony by Nonjurors As the text of and Justice O’Connor’s opinion in Tanner make clear, Rule 606(b) only governs testimony by jurors. Therefore, if a nonjuror observes jury misconduct, she can impeach the jury’s verdict. For example, in Tanner, Justice O’Connor cited to the Fourth Circuit’s opinion in , 558 F.2d 724 (4th Cir. 1977), in which a judge sent a Marshal to accompany jurors to a private club to deliberate and the Marshal was allowed to impeach their verdict through testimony regarding their consumption of alcoholic beverages during deliberations. Hypothetical 10: Robert Lamb is convicted of the murder of his sister. After Lamb was convicted, he brought a motion for a new trial based upon the following facts: The trial judge, who had a scheduling conflict, left the jury in another judge's charge on its second day of deliberations. Thereafter, the foreman told the bailiff he had a note for the judge. The bailiff saw the note, which asked about the difference between first- and second-degree
EvidenceJuryImpeachment_Miller_Dec2014.docx