Jurors are not blank slates onto which the evidence is written. Jurors enter the deliberating room with not only their notes and memories of the evidence, but with their own personal beliefs, prejudices and experiences. Attorneys who discover that a juror has concealed personal information during voir dire that is relevant to the case must act promptly to inform the court or otherwise risk waiving the right to a new trial on the basis of juror misconduct.
In the summer of 2012, a jury returned a $1 billion verdict against Samsung Electronics for infringing patents owned by Apple, Inc. Samsung subsequently moved for a new trial proffering an ill-fated contention that the verdict was the product of juror bias. Samsung alleged that the jury foreperson was dishonest during voir dire, because he had failed to disclose his prior litigation with his former employer, Seagate Technology PLC, a company of which Samsung owned a 10 percent stake. In December 2012, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California issued a 20-page opinion denying Samsung’s motion for a new trial. Apple, Inc. v. Samsung Elecs. Co., Case No.: 11-CV-01846 (LHK), 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 179533 (D. Cal. Dec. 17, 2012).
