arrow left
arrow right
  • LOUIS CASTAGNA VS. ASBESTOS DEFENDANTS (B/P)AS REFLECTED ON EXHIBITS et al ASBESTOS document preview
  • LOUIS CASTAGNA VS. ASBESTOS DEFENDANTS (B/P)AS REFLECTED ON EXHIBITS et al ASBESTOS document preview
  • LOUIS CASTAGNA VS. ASBESTOS DEFENDANTS (B/P)AS REFLECTED ON EXHIBITS et al ASBESTOS document preview
  • LOUIS CASTAGNA VS. ASBESTOS DEFENDANTS (B/P)AS REFLECTED ON EXHIBITS et al ASBESTOS document preview
  • LOUIS CASTAGNA VS. ASBESTOS DEFENDANTS (B/P)AS REFLECTED ON EXHIBITS et al ASBESTOS document preview
  • LOUIS CASTAGNA VS. ASBESTOS DEFENDANTS (B/P)AS REFLECTED ON EXHIBITS et al ASBESTOS document preview 
						
                                
Preview

                                1 || Edward R. Hugo [Bar No. 124839]
James C. Parker [Bar No. 106149]
2 || Shelley K. Tinkoff [Bar No. 187498]

BRYDON HUGO & PARKER ELECTRONICALLY
3 |} 135 Main Street, 20th Floor FILED
San Francisco, CA 94105 Superior Court of California,
4]|| Telephone: (415) 808-0300 County of San Francisco
Facsimile: (415) 808-0333 OCT 01 2010
5 || Email: tinkoff@bhplaw.com Clerk of the Court
6 || Attorneys for Defendant BY: JUANITA o Sepaly rk
FOSTER WHEELER LLC
7
8
SUPERIOR COURT - STATE OF CALIFORNIA
9
COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO - UNLIMITED JURISDICTION
10
11 || LOUIS CASTAGNA, (ASBESTOS)
Case No, CGC-07-274230
12 Plaintiff,
13 vs. DEFENDANT FOSTER WHEELER LLC'S
MOTION IN LIMINE FOR A COURT
14 || ASBESTOS DEFENDANTS (B“P), ORDER REQUIRING THE PROSPECTIVE
JURORS TO COMPLETE A JURY
15 Defendants. QUESTIONNAIRE PRIOR TO VOIR DIRE
16 [ot]
17
18
19 I. INTRODUCTION
20 Defendant FOSTER WHEELER LLC (“Defendant”) hereby moves in limine for

21 || entry of an order, prior to the selection of a jury, requiring the prospective jurors to

22 || complete a questionnaire prior to voir dire.

23 A questionnaire will greatly reduce the time required for oral voir dire, thus

24 || conserving valuable Court time and resources. Moreover, by identifying those

25 || prospective jurors who should be excused for cause, before they have the opportunity to
26 || express their views and possibly prejudice the remainder of the panel, the Court protects

27 || Defendant's right to a fair trial.

BRYDON L

HeUGo & PARKER DEFENDANT FOSTER WHEELER LLC ‘S MOTION IN LIMINE FOR A COURT ORDER REQUIRING

erage THE PROSPECTIVE JURORS 1O COMPLETE A JURY QUESTIONNAIRE PRIOR TO VOIR DIRE

San Francisca, CA 951051 IL THE USE OF JURY QUESTIONNAIRE IS BOTH AUTHORIZED AND
RECOMMENDED BY CALIFORNIA LAW

w

A jury questionnaire provides each prospective juror with a private, non-stressful

4 || environment to honestly answer questions regarding his or her personal views and life

5 || experiences. The questionnaire eliminates the leading questions of counsel, the potential
6 || desire to please the judge, and the embarrassment of revealing personal thoughts in front
7 || of 50 to 100 or more strangers. (Code of Civil Procedure § 205(c), (d).)

Jury questionnaires are authorized in civil trials, Code of Civil Procedure §222.5

g || limits the Court's discretion in refusing jury questionnaires in civil trials:

10 A court should not arbitrarily or unreasonably refuse to submit
reasonable written questionnaires, the contents of which are

11 determined by the court in its sound discretion, when
requested by counsel.

12

13 “The right to unbiased and unprejudiced jurors is an inseparable and inalienable

14 |} part of the right to trial by jury guaranteed by the Constitution.” (Lombardi v. California
15 || Street Railway (1899) 124 Cal. 311, 317; People v. Earp (1999) 20 Cal. 4 826.) In the instant
16 |/case, where the potential for a verdict based on undue sympathy, passion and prejudice,
{7 |jrather than the facts and the law, is extremely high, a jury questionnaire will increase the
18 ||likelihood of obtaining a fair and impartial jury panel. Moreover, the use of a jury

19 || questionnaire in general, and in this particular case, will save valuable Court time and
209 ||resources.

21 The benefits of a jury questionnaire are recognized by the California Judges

22 || Benchbook of Civil Trials (1981):

23 Some judges use written questions for potentially sensitive information
about prospective jurors. The purpose of these questions is to expedite

24 voir dire and minimize embarrassment and inconvenience to the jurors...
They may cover such matters as acquaintance with the parties, counsel,

25 or witnesses in the case, biographical information about the jurors, their
prior knowledge of or attitudes toward facts and circumstances of the

26 case, and experiences they may be sensitive about or embarrassed to
talk about in open court but that could bear on whether they will be

27 fair and impartial jurors. The jurors’ answers usually are given in the form of
declarations under penalty of perjury.

28

BRYDON 2
Huo & PARKER DEFENDAN'T FOSTER WHEELER LLC’S MOTION IN LIMINE FOR A COURT ORDER REQUIRING

20" FLOUR THE PROSPECTIVE JURORS TO COMPLETE A JURY QUESTIONNAIRE PRIOR TO VOIR DIRE

Sha Francisca, CA 94105BRrybON

HUGO & PARKER,
138 Maw STREET
20 FLOUR
San Frencisno, CA 64108

(Id. at § 4.17-4.20, pp. 99-101.)

TI. RESEARCH PROJECTS HAVE PROVEN THE UTILITY OF JURY
QUESTIONNAIRES.

The University of Minnesota conducted a study using a jury questionnaire. (“Jury
Bias—A Practical Screening Device and the Case for Permitting Its Use, “74 Minnesota

Law Review 949 (1980).) The study concluded that:

The value of the [questionnaire] during voir dire, however, is not

merely its efficiency, it provides information that conventional voir

dire questioning cannot provide. As a reliable predictor of bias, the
[questionnaires] can help overcome the problem of juror deception during
voir dire, regardless of whether the deception stems from a determination
to avoid dismissal, a failure to recognize one’s own biases, the inhibiting
effect of eroup questioning by a judge, or malice towards one of the trial
opponents. This is because indirect questioning like the [questionnaires| is
generally superior to direct questioning for unmasking true attitudes.

(Id. at 1011.)
Defendant's questionnaire would reap the same rewards.
Iv. CONCLUSION
Based on the foregoing, as well as any evidence and arguments that may be produced
at the hearing on this matter, Defendant respectfully requests that the Court submit a jury
questionnaire to the prospective jurors prior to voir dite. Defendant also respectfully
requests that the Court allow counsel the time to review the completed questionnaires

prior to engaging in oral voir dire with the prospective jurors.
Dated: September 30, 2010 BRYDON HUGO & PARKER

By:  /s/ Shelley K. Tinkoff
Edward R. Hugo
James C. Parker
Shelley K. Tinkoff
Attorneys for Defendant
FOSTER WHEELER LLC

3

DEFENDANT FOSTER WHEELER LLC ‘S MOTION IN LIMINE FOR A COURT ORDER REQUIRING
THE PROSPECTIVE JURORS TO COMPLETE A JURY QUESTIONNAIRE PRIOR TO VOIR DIRE,