Warger v. Shauers

          Warger v. Shauers was one of the first cases heard by the Court during this year’s term, back in the second week of October. It is No. 13-517.

          The case revolved around a truck and motorcycle collision in South Dakota that caused the rider to lose part of their leg. The rider sued, and subsequently lost. However, after the trial was over, it was discovered that Regina Whipple, the jury’s forewoman, was biased in favor of the truck driver. The information was revealed to the rider’s lawyer by one of the jurors, who said that during deliberations Ms. Whipple revealed that her daughter had been responsible for a fatal accident, and had her daughter been sued, it would have ruined her life.

            Armed with this new information, the rider sought a new trial, but lower courts refused to consider the statement, and so the case went to the Supreme Court. This Thursday, the Court unanimously ruled that jurors may not testify about what went on during deliberations even to expose dishonestly in jury selection. The decision was written by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who pointed to the sanctity of jury deliberations, and to the fact that Whipple’s daughter’s accident did not provide her or the rest of the jury with specific knowledge regarding negligence liability for car crashes, and therefore does not count as extraneous prejudicial information.