Flag: No Mistrial Seen Juror In WTC Trial Wants Out
One of the jurors in the World Trade Center insurance trial expressed her desire to leave the panel last week after deliberations were already in their second week, and while reasons for her request were not clear, the trial judge speculated that disagreements among jurors might have been the cause.
This one juror "may want out because she has a disagreement with a majority of the jurors," said U.S. District Court Judge Michael Mukasey. Attorneys on the case speculated there could be other external reasons, such as family or health troubles.
"We have a problem," Judge Mukasey told the court. "One of the jurors has made it known to my deputy clerk that she wants out." But the judge noted that the trial still has a sufficient number of jurors to dismiss this particular juror if needed, adding that he won't talk to the juror about the request unless it is made formally in writing.
In disclosing the juror's request, Judge Mukasey also asked lawyers from both sides whether they would accept a less-than-unanimous verdict in case there are disagreements among jurors.
Because this is a civil trial, the lawyers could agree to go with just 10 jurors and as few as six, instead of the current 11 (one juror was already dismissed earlier in April because of a business obligation), or the lawyers could agree to accept a verdict that is less than unanimous.
In response, Mr. Silverstein's lawyers said they would be open to a less-than-unanimous verdict to avoid a retrial, but the insurers' lawyers appeared to be split on this issue. While most insurers appeared to be opposed to a less-than-unanimous verdict, lawyers representing the Federal Insurance Company told the judge that they would agree to accept a non-unanimous verdict, if it is a nine-to-two majority or better.
Reproduced from National Underwriter Edition, April 30, 2004. Copyright 2004 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.