Concealed bias by juror during jury selection is grounds for new trial

Law Reporter, May 2003

Dalton v. State, 63 P.3d 847 (Wash. Ct. App. 2003).

A Washington appellate court held that a plaintiff who shows a juror intentionally concealed bias from the court during jury selection is entitled to a new trial.

Here, a 4-year-old boy was beaten to death by a foster father, who was convicted of homicide. The boy's mother then filed a negligence action against the foster mother, among others. During jury selection a juror told a clerk outside the court that plaintiff was "an opportunist trying to profit from her child's death." The jury found the foster mother negligent but awarded damages to cover funeral expenses only, and found in favor of the other defendants. The trial court denied plaintiff's motion for a new trial.

Reversing, the appellate court said that the juror's statement was clear evidence that he had concealed relevant information during jury selection. He represented to the court in the jury questionnaire that there was nothing that would affect his ability to be fair and impartial and did not respond to the court's questioning of the jury pool about whether anyone had an ethical, moral or philosophical view that would cause them discomfort in entering a money judgment. If a juror knows that disclosure is the appropriate response to the court's or counsel's questions and yet fails to answer truthfully, the court said, then bias can be conclusively presumed.

The appellate court found that the trial court's decision was based in part on an erroneous interpretation of the law, namely that plaintiff had to show the juror's bias prejudiced the jury's deliberations. The material question is not whether the juror's bias affected the verdict. Rather, the parties were entitled to have the case tried by impartial jurors, and this right was denied by the juror's concealment of his real views.

Accordingly, the court remanded.