A judge Friday granted Merck & Co. attorneys access to bank and cell phone records that could show the extent of a juror’s financial relationship with a plaintiff who won a $32 million verdict in the death of a man who took the painkiller Vioxx.
Juror Jose Manuel Rios, who earns $22,000 a year as a school janitor, testified in a post-trial deposition to borrowing up to $10,000 interest-free from widow Felicia Garza, the plaintiff in the lawsuit against Merck. He said the loans included $2,500 that was paid off just weeks before jury selection in the case.
