UPDATED: Stuck Med-Mal Jury Leans to Plaintiffs; Parties Accept it to End Trial

A deadlocked jury and two battling lawyers came together Saturday afternoon in a surprise conclusion to a medical malpractice trial in Cobb County State Court against a doctor who delivered a baby with profound brain injuries.

With the jury split 10-2 after lunch on their third day of deliberating, plaintiffs’ attorney Tommy Malone and defense counsel Daniel Huff – not knowing which way the jurors were leaning–crafted an unusual deal. It was more of a bet than a settlement, not unlike a sophisticated coin toss, that worked like this: Call in the jury. Ask whether the 10 favor the plaintiff or the defense. Whichever side had the 10 votes would receive the benefit of the high-low agreement the lawyers put in place before the trial began Jan. 6. If the 10 favored the defense, the low figure in the agreement would apply. If they favored the plaintiffs, the doctor’s insurance company, MAG Mutual, would pay the high figure (its policy limit).

Judge Kathryn Tanksley called the jury back into the courtroom at 2:30 p.m., an hour after clarifying her instruction on the duty to reach agreement in an Allen charge – also known as a dynamite charge. With the agreement of the lawyers, she asked them which party the 10 favored. “The plaintiffs,” the foreman answered.

The judge thanked the jurors for their service and released them.

The lawyers didn’t reveal to the court the numbers behind their high-low agreement. “Our clients don’t want to take someone’s house or car,” Malone told the judge in explaining the high-low agreement contained within the policy limit.

For more information on this case, please read the story below, written while the jury was deliberating on Friday and published Friday night. The Daily Report will have more coverage Tuesday night online and in Wednesday’s print edition. (We are closed Monday for the Martin Luther King holiday.)

Lawyers Wait for Jury to Decide Cobb Med-Mal Case

A Cobb County State Court jury on Friday afternoon was still deliberating a medical malpractice suit brought against the doctor who delivered a baby born with profound brain damage.