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Scarpaci v. Kaufman

The trial court manifestly abused its discretion in denying the plaintiffs' motion to strike for cause a prospective juror who indicated on voir dire that she was biased in favor of the defendants.

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Kaitlyn Scarpaci and Sean Garrett collectively, “the Garretts”, as next friends and parents of Aubrey Garrett, a minor, sued Paul L. Kaufman, M. D., Jeffrey A. Carlisle, M. D., and Thomas Eye Group, P. C., among others, for medical malpractice after Aubrey Garrett lost vision in both eyes within three months of her premature birth. The jury found in favor of the physicians and Thomas Eye Group, and the Garretts appeal. They contend that the trial court erred by failing to strike for cause three jurors who had indicated on voir dire that they were biased in favor of the defendants. For the reasons that follow, we reverse.

Civil litigants have the right to strike a jury from a full panel of qualified and competent jurors.1 Jurors “must be free from bias and prejudice regarding the trial’s outcome.”2 “A potential juror must be excused for cause based on partiality . . . if he or she holds an opinion so fixed and definite that he or she will be unable to set it aside and decide the case based on the evidence and the court’s charge on the evidence.”3 To rehabilitate a biased juror, a trial court “must conduct an inquiry, either through its own questioning or allowance of questions by counsel, sufficient to evaluate the potential juror’s fairness and impartiality. A trial court has broad discretion in making this evaluation, and we will not reverse its ruling absent a manifest abuse of discretion.”4

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