Team Contractors, L.L.C. et al v. Waypoint NOLA, L.L.C. et al
Filing
588
ORDER AND REASONS denying 563 Motion for Leave to Contact a Juror. Signed by Judge Susie Morgan on 5/21/2019. (sbs)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
TEAM CONTRACTORS, LLC,
Plaintiff
CIVIL ACTION
VERSUS
NO. 16-1131
WAYPOINT NOLA, LLC, ET AL.,
Defendants
SECTION: “E”(2)
ORDER AND REASONS
Before the Court is a motion for leave to contact a juror, filed by Defendant
Waypoint NOLA, LLC (“Waypoint”).1 The motion is opposed.2 For the reasons that follow,
the Court DENIES the motion.
BACKGROUND
The Court conducted a jury trial in this matter from April 15, 2019 to April 17,
2019.3 The jury found in favor of Plaintiff Team Contractors, LLC (“Team”).4 After the
jury verdict was read, the Court’s deputy polled the jury. Each juror stated in open court
that he or she agreed with the verdict. The Court informed the jurors that they should not
disclose any votes on any elements of the verdict form. The Court also informed the jurors
that, in this district, attorneys must get permission from the Court before contacting a
juror. The Court then excused the jury.
On April 22, 2019, counsel for Waypoint informed the Court that a juror had called
her office and left a voicemail stating she wished to discuss the trial. The Court asked
Waypoint’s counsel to refrain from contacting the juror until the Court instructed the
R. Doc. 563.
R. Doc. 577.
3 R. Docs. 550, 554, 555.
4 R. Doc. 559.
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parties on how to proceed. The Court contacted the juror and determined the juror wished
to tell Waypoint’s counsel the trial exhibits on which she relied during deliberations.
On the same day, Waypoint filed the instant motion requesting leave to contact the
juror.5 On April 23, 2019, the Court held a telephone status conference with counsel for
both parties.6 Pursuant to the Court’s instructions at the conference, Waypoint filed a
supplemental memorandum in support of its motion,7 and Team filed an opposition.8
LAW AND ANALYSIS
Rule 47.5 of the Local Civil Rules of this Court provides:
(A)
(B)
(C)
A juror has no obligation to speak to any person about any
case and may refuse all interviews or requests for comments.
Attorneys and parties to an action, or anyone acting on their
behalf, are prohibited from speaking with, examining or
interviewing any juror regarding the proceedings, except with
leave of court. If leave of court is granted, it shall be conducted
only as specifically directed by the court.
No person may make repeated requests to interview or
question a juror after the juror has expressed a desire not to
be interviewed.9
In Haeberle v. Texas Int'l Airlines, the Fifth Circuit explained the policy reasons for
limiting contact with jurors as follows:
Federal courts have generally disfavored post-verdict
interviewing of jurors. We have repeatedly refused to
denigrate jury trials by afterwards ransacking the jurors in
search of some new ground, not previously supported by
evidence, for a new trial. Prohibiting post-verdict interviews
protects the jury from an effort to find grounds for postverdict charges of misconduct, reduces the chances and
temptations for tampering with the jury, increases the
certainty of civil trials, and spares the district courts timeconsuming and futile proceedings. We have therefore
uniformly refused to upset the denial of leave to interview
jurors for the purpose of obtaining evidence of improprieties
R. Doc. 563.
R. Doc. 567.
7 R. Doc. 568.
8 R. Doc. 577.
9 L.R. 47.5.
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in the deliberations unless specific evidence of misconduct
was shown by testimony or affidavit.10
In Haeberle, the court acknowledged that, when a journalist requests leave to interview
jurors, “the general public’s right to receive information about judicial proceedings”
under the First Amendment is implicated.11 However, when attorneys seek to “satisfy their
own curiosity and to improve their techniques of advocacy,” their interests “carr[y] far
less weight in the first amendment scale.”12 The Court held, “The first-amendment
interests of both the disgruntled litigant and its counsel in interviewing jurors in order to
satisfy their curiosity and improve their advocacy are . . . plainly outweighed by the jurors'
interest in privacy and the public's interest in well-administered justice.”13 Relying on
Haeberle, courts in this district have consistently denied attorney requests to contact
jurors.14
In this case, as in Haeberle, there is no evidence of misconduct or impropriety in
connection with the jury deliberations. The Court will not “denigrate [the] jury trial[] by
afterwards ransacking the jurors in search of some new ground, not previously supported
by evidence, for a new trial.”15
Waypoint cites Haeberle for the proposition that the Local Rule is “designed to
protect jurors’ privacy rights and to prevent harassment.”16 Waypoint argues that,
739 F.2d 1019, 1021 (5th Cir. 1984) (citations and internal quotation marks omitted).
Id. at 1021–22 (citing In re Express-News Corp., 695 F.2d 807 (5th Cir.1982)).
12 Id. at 1022.
13 Id.
14 See, e.g., Smith v. Kansa Tech., L.L.C., No. CV 16-16597, 2018 WL 3208035, at *1 (E.D. La. June 28,
2018) (Africk, J.) (denying request to interview jurors to “obtain any additional information that may or
may not support a finding of a jury taint along with evidentiary issues”); Abel v. Ochsner Clinic Found., No.
CIV.A 06-8517, 2010 WL 1552823, at *1 (E.D. La. Apr. 15, 2010) (Vance, J.) (denying request of a defendant
in a slip-and-fall case when defendant represented “information from the[] jurors w[ould] assist it in
understanding the public's expectations for healthcare delivery involving patients at risk for falls”);
Rouillier v. Illinois Cent. Gulf R.R., No. CIV.A. 87-0677, 1988 WL 72866, at *2 (E.D. La. July 5, 1988)
(Schwartz, J.) (denying a request to contact jurors as a “thinly veiled ‘fishing expedition’) (quoting United
States v. Riley, 544 F.2d 237, 242 (5th Cir.1976), cert. denied, 430 U.S. 932 (1977)).
15 Id. at 1021.
16 R. Doc. 568 at 2.
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because the juror affirmatively contacted Waypoint’s counsel, none of the policy
justifications for the prohibitions on contacting jurors applies.17 The Court does not agree.
Admittedly, the interest in protecting a juror’s privacy is greatly reduced in a case in which
a juror contacts a party’s attorney. However, the Haeberle court also stressed the
importance of the “public’s interest in well-administered justice,” the “certainty of civil
trials,” and sparing the district courts from “time-consuming and futile proceedings.”18
These policy considerations support the Court’s denial of Waypoint’s request to contact
the juror.
Waypoint also argues, without citing caselaw, that preventing it from contacting
the juror would violate the First Amendment rights of counsel and of the juror.19 “By
voluntarily assuming the special status of trial participants and officers of the court,
parties and their attorneys subject themselves to greater restraints on their
communications than might constitutionally be applied to the general public.”20 As in
Haeberle, the public’s interest in well-administered justice outweighs any First
Amendment interests of Waypoint’s counsel or the juror.
The Court also notes that Rule 606 of the Federal Rules of Evidence provides:
(1) Prohibited Testimony or Other Evidence. During
an inquiry into the validity of a verdict or indictment, a juror
may not testify about any statement made or incident that
occurred during the jury's deliberations; the effect of anything
on that juror's or another juror's vote; or any juror's mental
processes concerning the verdict or indictment. The court
may not receive a juror's affidavit or evidence of a juror's
statement on these matters.
(2) Exceptions. A juror may testify about whether:
Id. at 2–3.
739 F.2d at 1021, 1022.
19 R. Doc. 568 at 2–3.
20 Haeberle, 739 F.2d at 1022.
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(A) extraneous prejudicial information was improperly
brought to the jury's attention;
(B) an outside influence was improperly brought to bear on
any juror; or
(C) a mistake was made in entering the verdict on the verdict
form.21
There are no indications the exceptions apply. It appears the juror may wish to inform
Waypoint about her or the jury’s deliberations. Even if Waypoint were to inquire into the
validity of the jury verdict, the juror’s testimony would be prohibited under Rule 606. As
a result, Waypoint is not prejudiced by the denial of the instant motion for leave.
CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, IT IS ORDERED that motion for leave to contact a
juror, filed by Defendant Waypoint NOLA, LLC, be and hereby is DENIED.22
New Orleans, Louisiana, this 21st day of May, 2019.
________________________________
SUSIE MORGAN
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
21
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FED. R. EVID. 606(b).
R. Doc. 563.
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