Nilgün Aykent Zahour and SM JUROR analyze the juror misconduct case of Stafford v. Burns, 241 Ariz. 474, 389 P.3d 76 (Ariz. Ct. App. Jan. 17, 2017), where not every violation of the court's admonitions requires dismissal of the juror involved. #JurorMisconduct

1. SM JUROR presents our analysis of:
Stafford v. Burns, 241 Ariz. 474, 389 P.3d 76 (Ariz. Ct. App. Jan. 17, 2017).
Not every violation of the court's admonitions requires dismissal of the juror
involved.

2. Stafford v. Burns, 241 Ariz. 474, 389 P.3d 76 (Ariz.
Ct. App. Jan. 17, 2017).

3. Copyright 2017 – SM JUROR. All rights reserved.
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4. This presentation is brought to you by Nilgün Aykent Zahour, Esq.
Nilgün Aykent Zahour is the President and Founding Attorney
of SM JUROR. With over twenty-eight years of litigation
experience, her passion is to help attorneys identify, preserve
and advance juror misconduct issues at trial and on appeal in
this constantly evolving area of the law. Don’t let juror
misconduct taint your verdict, especially when a juror uses
social media or the internet.
You can view Nilgün’s education and background on the SM
JUROR website by clicking here and also click/view her
LinkedIn profile.
Click on her latest article “The Verdict is In: Juries, Misconduct
and Social Media”.
Because the only evidence you want the jury to consider … is in the
courtroom.
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5. In this medical malpractice case, jurors were admonished not to discuss the case outside the jury room. At
the end of the 11th day of trial, the court reporter heard Juror 10 make the following comment to other
jurors in the elevator, “If the parameters were set at 11 to 24, why didn’t the alarm go off?” The court
reporter told the jurors not to talk about the case and reported the incident to the trial court. Plaintiffs
declined to question the juror but moved to excuse him. After questioning the juror and making the
following findings based on the juror’s answers and demeanor, the trial court denied the motion:
• No other discussion occurred;
• the comment was minor, did not show Juror 10 made up his mind, or indicate any predetermination of
the issues;
• the comment did not influence other jurors;
• the comment reflected the type of comment jurors would make during deliberations.
Plaintiffs moved for a new trial because Juror 10 violated the court’s admonitions not
to discuss the case outside of the jury room.
Facts:

6. “Not every violation of the court's admonitions requires dismissal of the juror involved.”
Stafford v. Burns, 241 Ariz. 474 ¶22, 389 P.3d 76 (Ariz. Ct. App. Jan. 17, 2017).
Violations of the Court’s Admonitions:
“[T]he trial court is in the best position to determine the effect, if any, of a juror's
misconduct.” Id.
The reviewing court will defer to the trial court’s conclusions,
“particularly where, as here, there is no evidence to the
contrary.” Id., at ¶22.
“We review a decision to deny a new trial based upon alleged
jury misconduct for an abuse of discretion.” Id., at ¶18.
Copyright 2017 - SM JUROR

7. Holding:
“The record does not show Juror 10 individually, or the jury generally, was biased
because of Juror 10’s misconduct. The court did not abuse its discretion in denying
the Staffords’ requests.” Stafford v. Burns, 241 Ariz. 474 ¶23, 389 P.3d 76 (Ariz. Ct. App.
Jan. 17, 2017).
Copyright 2017 - SM JUROR

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