The New Jersey Supreme Court on Thursday overturned a $71.8 million medical malpractice award to the family of a brain-damaged infant, finding the trial judge’s serious errors during jury selection and disparate treatment of counsel made the trial hopelessly unfair.
The court unanimously held that Essex County Superior Court Judge Francine Schott’s voir dire process failed to screen for bias against the defendants and that her apparent favoritism toward the plaintiffs counsel further cast doubt on her fairness — so much so that she should not preside at the retrial.
