Travent, Ltd. v. Schecter

678 So. 2d 1345, 1996 Fla. App. LEXIS 7994, 21 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. D 1732
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJuly 31, 1996
DocketNo. 95-2641
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 678 So. 2d 1345 (Travent, Ltd. v. Schecter) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Travent, Ltd. v. Schecter, 678 So. 2d 1345, 1996 Fla. App. LEXIS 7994, 21 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. D 1732 (Fla. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

FARMER, Judge.

In this negligence action, the jury returned a verdict finding in favor of the defendant. Plaintiffs counsel asked that the jury be polled. To the question, “[i]s this your verdict,” one juror responded “no.” At that point, the trial judge explained that the verdict is supposed to be unanimous. To this, the juror explained:

“It’s ours as a group.... But that doesn’t — How can I explain this? When we discussed everything, that’s what we came up with, but there is just some additional feelings involved. Maybe I answered the question incorrectly. It is our verdict.”

The court then inquired whether he had reached the verdict with the other jurors, and the juror responded, “Yes, I did.”

Later that same day, the juror telephoned plaintiffs counsel and complained that his fellow jurors had castigated him for his responses during the polling. While that was happening, one of the jurors also stated that she would not vote to award money to a lawyer. Ten days after the telephone conversation, plaintiffs counsel filed a motion for leave to interview the jurors, accompanied by an affidavit signed by the lawyer.

Omitting only names and its formal parts, the affidavit of counsel in support of the motion for a juror interview says in its entirety as follows:

“1. That I am the attorney for Plaintiffs ... in this action.
“2. On June 2, 1995 at approximately 3:30 P. M., I received a telephone call from juror No. 5 ..., informing me that the verdict in this action was rendered prior to considering the evidence based upon the feeling that a lawyer making a lot of money should not be given any money; that during the jury’s deliberation process, he was intimidated by juror No. 2 ... and juror No. 6 ...; that foul language was used against him in an effort to try to get him to vote their way; that after polling the jury the entire panel yelled and screamed at him; and, that it was clear in his mind that the verdict was not based upon the law and the evidence but based upon prejudice against the Plaintiff....
“Further affiant sayeth not.”

The motion, prepared by the same attorney at the same time as the affidavit, described the same conversation with the juror as follows:

“3. On [June 2, 1995], after the jury was polled, the jury returned to the deliberation room. In such room, juror No. 5 ... was yelled at by his fellow jurors for his disclosures during polling of the jury. In fact, the bailiff had commented in his 25 years he had not heard yelling like that in a jury room.
“4. On [June 2, 1995], after the court proceeding had terminated, juror No. 5 ... telephoned the undersigned attorney. During such conversation, jury [sic] No. 5 ... informed this attorney that the other jurors yelled at him for the comments that he made during the polling of the jury. Further, and most important, juror No. 5 ... said that juror No. 6 ... stated that she was not going to award any money to some rich attorney. See affidavit attached.
“5. As a result of the above misconduct and overt act of juror No. 6 ... the juror and/or jury was prejudiced against the Plaintiffs.... Such prejudicial conduct af[1347]*1347fected the jury in reaching its own verdict.” [e.s.]

The rest of the motion relates to background and the relief requested.

The trial judge granted the motion. His order cites the three supreme court decisions discussed later in this opinion but does not state the rationale for allowing the jury interviews. Pending the interviews, the court reserved any ruling on plaintiffs’ post trial motion for judgment in accordance with prior motion for directed verdict, motion for new trial, and motion for mistrial. Defendant has filed a petition for a writ of common law certiorari, which we treat as an appeal from the order. Ray Cooke Enterprises Inc. v. Parsons, 627 So.2d 1267 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993). We reverse.

Nearly four decades ago, the supreme court of our state held in McAllister Hotel v. Porte, 123 So.2d 339 (Fla.1959), that:

“[T]he law does not permit a juror to avoid his verdict for any reason which essentially inheres in the verdict itself, as that he ‘did not assent to the verdict; that he misunderstood the instructions of the Court, the statements of witnesses or pleadings in the case; that he was unduly influenced by the statements or otherwise of his fellow jurors, or mistaken in his calculations or judgment, or other matters resting alone in the juror’s breast.’ ”

123 So.2d at 344. Five years ago, in State v. Hamilton, 574 So.2d 124 (Fla.1991), the court said:

“Florida’s Evidence Code, like that of many other jurisdictions, absolutely forbids any judicial inquiry into emotions, mental processes, or mistaken beliefs of jurors, [f.o.] § 90.607(2)(b), Fla. Stat. (1987) (Law Revision Council Note— 1976).1 Jurors may not even testify that they misunderstood the applicable law. Id.; Songer v. State, 463 So.2d 229, 231 (Fla.), cert. denied, 472 U.S. 1012, 105 S.Ct. 2713, 86 L.Ed.2d 728 (1985). This rule rests on a fundamental policy that litigation will be extended needlessly if the motives of jurors are subject to challenge. Branch v. State, 212 So.2d 29, 32 (Fla. 2d DCA 1968). The rule also rests on a policy ‘of preventing litigants or the public from invading the privacy of the jury room.’
“However, jurors are allowed to testify about ‘overt acts which might have prejudi-cially affected the jury in reaching their own verdict, [c.o.]’ ”

574 So.2d at 128.

Barely three months later, the court decided Baptist Hosp. of Miami Inc. v. Maler, 579 So.2d 97 (Fla.1991), in which the court explained these decisions:

“The distinction drawn by the cases quoted above is between overt prejudicial acts, and subjective impressions or opinions of jurors. To the extent an inquiry will elicit information about overt prejudicial acts, it is permissible; to the extent an inquiry will elicit information about subjective impressions and opinions of jurors, it may not be allowed.”

579 So.2d at 99. Continuing, Maler said:

“We now clarify the meaning of Hamilton in light of the strong public policy against allowing litigants either to harass jurors or to upset a verdict by attempting to ascertain some improper motive underlying it. We hold that an inquiry is never permissible unless the moving party has made factual allegations that, if true, would require a trial court to order a new trial using the standard adopted in Hamilton." [e.s.]

579 So.2d at 100.

In Maler, the.affidavits of defense counsel recounted their conversation with two jurors.

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678 So. 2d 1345, 1996 Fla. App. LEXIS 7994, 21 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. D 1732, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/travent-ltd-v-schecter-fladistctapp-1996.