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Jury Panel Investigation in Missouri Revisited: Waiver of the Issue of Juror Non-Disclosure Remains Limited to the Litigation History

With the constant evolution of technology, the Missouri Constitution’s guarantee of the right to a fair and impartial jury of 12 has simultaneously become easier and more difficult to attain. As internet outlets and social media platforms rapidly multiply, prospective jurors have more opportunities to express or “post” beliefs and reveal biases on topics involved in litigation. In the best case scenario, this provides a litigant ample opportunity to corroborate or dispute the information provided by a prospective juror during voir dire. On the other hand, it has become increasingly difficult to uncover all of a prospective juror’s internet persona to discover whether a juror may, or may not, be impartial in a particular case.

As outlined in a blog post published in 2013, Missouri was one of the first states to obligate a litigant to investigate the backgrounds of potential jurors. In 2010, the Supreme Court of Missouri, in Johnson v. McCullough, affirmed a lower court’s grant of a new trial when plaintiff’s counsel, through research after trial, discovered that a juror failed to disclose their prior “litigation history.” Although the Supreme Court agreed that a new trial was appropriate, it also put litigants on notice that they should not expect to succeed on such motions in future if they wait until after a verdict is returned to perform juror research.

In 2011, the Missouri Supreme Court approved Rule 69.025 which codified the duty of litigants to research prospective jury members. Notably, it cautioned litigants that “a party waives the right to seek relief based on juror nondisclosure if the party fails to do either of the following before the jury is sworn: (1) Conduct a reasonable investigation; or (2) if the party has reasonable grounds to believe a prospective juror has failed to disclose that he or she has been a party to litigation, inform the court of the basis for the reasonable grounds. Mo. R. Civ. P. 69.025(e). For the purposes of the rule, “reasonable investigation” constitutes a search of Case.net, at minimum. Mo. R. Civ. P. 69.025(b).

The Southern District Court of Appeals recently addressed this rule in Spence v. BNSF Ry. Co. Despite the exponential growth of technology and online outlets in the past four years, the Court held the applicability of Rule 69.025 was limited to the subject of a venireperson’s “litigation history.” Spence involved a fatal car accident in which a BNSF train struck the decedent’s truck. Before the panel of potential jurors were seated, the parties conducted pretrial Case.net searches based on a list tendered by the Court. However, around the time the panelists were seated for voir dire, it was discovered that Juror Cornell’s last name was misspelled (“Carnell”). The parties did not conduct another Case.net search using Juror Cornell’s correctly spelled name before questioning.

As voir dire unfolded, BNSF’s counsel asked potential jurors whether or not they, or a close family member, had been involved in a motor vehicle accident. Counsel did not, however, question the panel about their “litigation history” involving motor vehicle accidents. Juror Cornell, whose son died in an auto accident, remained silent and said nothing in response to BNSF counsel’s question seeking information about those involved in motor vehicle accidents. Juror Cornell ultimately made the jury and assisted in awarding $19 million dollars to the decedent’s wife.

BNSF appealed the trial court’s rejection of their juror non-disclosure claim regarding Juror Cornell’s failure to truthfully answer the questions regarding her family’s history with automobile accidents. In response, plaintiff argued that another Case.net search using Juror Cornell’s correctly spelled name would have revealed the juror’s lawsuit for her son’s death and that Mo. R. Civ. P. 69.025 should operate to cause waiver of the complaint that the juror failed to disclose pertinent information.

The appellate court held that Mo.R.Civ.P. 69.025 pertained exclusively to juror non-disclosure of “litigation history.” In this case, Juror Cornell failed to advise the litigants that her son had died in an auto accident, not whether or not she had been involved in litigation relating to an accident. As a result, the majority was compelled to find that Mo.R.Civ.P. 69.025 could not be invoked to cause BNSF’s waiver of the right to complain about the disclosure. The Court ordered a new trial as a result.

In a well-reasoned dissent, Judge Rahmeyer argued that Rule 69.025 was much broader in its application than as narrowly construed by the majority. The judge believed that the claim by BNSF counsel relating to juror non-disclosure was “exactly the type of claim that Rule 69.025 was enacted to curtail, i.e. an after-trial complaint of juror non-disclosure of a matter that would have been discovered had defendant used due diligence by searching Case.net.” Plaintiff has asked the Missouri Supreme Court to review the case; the Court has not yet decided whether to do so.