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Juror's Googling Results in New Trial

By Robert J. Ambrogi

The South Dakota Supreme Court has ruled that a judge was justified in throwing out a defense verdict and ordering a new trial in a wrongful death case because of a juror's Google searches. In a Sept. 16 opinion, Russo v. Takata Corporation, the court affirmed the order of a new trial in a case brought against a seat-belt manufacturer by the estate of a 16-year-old girl who was killed after she was thrown from her vehicle. What is interesting about this case is that the Googling took place before the juror was impaneled and consisted of just two brief searches. In May 2007, the then-prospective juror, Shawn Flynn, received a summons to jury duty that identified the names of the parties and cautioned, "Do not seek out evidence regarding this case." Never having heard of Takata and wondering "what they did," Flynn searched the name on his home computer and found its home page, where he learned that it was a seat belt and airbag manufacturer. He then searched the name TK Holdings, also listed on the summons as a defendant, and found it was the American subsidiary of Takata. Once he was chosen as a member of the...

Full post as published by Legal Blog Watch on September 25, 2009 (boomark / email).