Roberts ex rel. Estate of Roberts v. Tejada

• Decision Date: 21 February 2002
• Docket Number: No. SC00-1080.,SC00-1080.
• Citation: 814 So.2d 334
• Parties: Lucille ROBERTS, personally and as Personal Representative of the ESTATE OF Frederick ROBERTS, Petitioner, v. Francisco TEJADA, M.D., Francisco Tejada M.D., F.A.C.P., P.A., and Francisco Tejada M.D., F.A.C.P., P.A. d/b/a American Oncology Centers Inc., Respondents.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

814 So.2d 334

Lucille ROBERTS, personally and as Personal Representative of the ESTATE OF Frederick ROBERTS, Petitioner, v. Francisco TEJADA, M.D., Francisco Tejada M.D., F.A.C.P., P.A., and Francisco Tejada M.D., F.A.C.P., P.A. d/b/a American Oncology Centers Inc., Respondents.

No. SC00-1080.

Supreme Court of Florida.

February 21, 2002.

Rehearing Denied April 3, 2002.

David Kleinberg of Gaebe, Murphy, Mullen & Antonelli, Coral Gables, FL, for Petitioner.

Shelley H. Leinicke of Wicker, Smith, Tutan, O'Hara, McCoy, Graham & Ford, P.A., Fort Lauderdale, FL, for Respondents.

LEWIS, J.

We have for review Tejada v. Roberts, 760 So.2d 960 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000), which expressly and directly conflicts with this Court's opinion in De La Rosa v. Zequeira, 659 So.2d 239 (Fla.1995). We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(3), Fla. Const.

MATERIAL FACTS

After the death of Frederick Roberts due to liver cancer, the widow and personal representative of the decedent's estate, Mrs. Roberts ("Roberts") sued Dr. Tejada ("Tejada"), alleging negligence in the treatment of Mr. Roberts' cancer. During voir dire questioning of the venire, the trial judge initially stated:

I'll ask you ... have you been a party to a lawsuit. What I mean by that is, have you brought a court action against somebody else seeking money from them or if someone brought an action against you, seeking money from you. And it could be because of an auto accident, breach of contract, many other things, divorces and what not. But let me know if you have been a party, a plaintiff or defendant, in a case yourself or maybe a close family member has been involved in a lawsuit. Let me know that as well.

Thereafter, immediately before Roberts' counsel questioned each potential juror, he said:

He [the judge] asked you if you had ever been a party to a lawsuit. And again, the reason isn't to embarrass you, because you know when you were in the lawsuit, you may have won and you thought it was great or you lost, thought it stunk. Or you may have been a defendant and think all the plaintiffs are out to get their money or you may have been a plaintiff and thought otherwise.

It's really important what you bring to the stand on this issue. So I'm going to ask you, each one of you by name whether or not you have ever been a party to a lawsuit. And I mean, any kind of lawsuit, a divorce, a collection of a debt, a breach of contract, an assault and battery, an auto accident, a defective product, a medical negligence case, such as this case, a divorce, anything at all.

During the course of questioning, Ms. Fornell and Ms. Guerrero failed to disclose any prior litigation history. In fact, Ms. Fornell, in responding to the trial court's inquiry regarding whether she had ever been a party to a lawsuit, affirmatively responded, "Never," and both Ms. Fornell and Ms. Guerrero, in answering the same question later posed by the plaintiffs counsel responded, "No." However, other prospective jurors did discuss their involvement in lawsuits: two individuals disclosed that they had been involved in legal actions involving automobile accidents; one person spoke about a personal injury action which had been brought by his grandmother; and four others disclosed that they had been or were currently involved in some type of domestic dispute proceedings. None of the jurors who disclosed any sort of litigation history were selected to sit on the jury and challenges were utilized to excuse individuals who had previously been involved in legal actions and domestic disputes.

Following the jury verdict in Tejada's favor, Roberts filed a motion for new trial and/or mistrial. As grounds for the motion, Roberts cited the improper use of closing argument (an asserted "Golden Rule" violation) and witness testimony (of both the defendant and his experts). Before the trial court considered the motion, Roberts searched the official public records index maintained by the Miami-Dade County Clerk of Courts, and amended her motion to include the information obtained from that search. Specifically, Roberts stated that she had "come to learn" that certain jurors had "been involved in prior litigation matters, which were not disclosed during the voir dire process," listing Thelma Fornell (five cases), Paula Guerrero (two cases) and Jessica Martinez (four cases). Roberts then requested a jury interview. The trial court required more information before it could render its final decision, and denied the request to interview jurors without prejudice. Instead, it entered an order allowing the parties access to jury pool information regarding name, address, driver's license, and date of birth.

After having acquired the jury pool information to which the court afforded access, Roberts conducted an "AutoTrak" computerized background check using the jurors' names. That search identified six licensed Florida drivers with Guerrero's name, five of whom were registered as Miami Dade County residents. Thereafter, Roberts reviewed the court index to identify cases involving the jurors, and attempted to obtain individual court files. Some records were unavailable entirely, while others were available at the Dade County Courthouse, in off-site storage, at the Metro Justice Building, or at the Coral Gables Court Annex.

Roberts then filed a second amended motion for relief. She claimed that a new trial was warranted based upon the failure of certain jurors to disclose, during the voir dire process, their involvement in prior litigation. The public records for Miami-Dade County appeared to show that, in 1996, "Paula C. Guerrero" had filed a domestic violence petition, and had shortly thereafter voluntarily dismissed the action. The "AutoTrak" search also identified two 1995 cases involving "Paula Guerrero"; however, confirmation was unavailable that the juror was the same person identified in Roberts' search.

The public records also appeared to disclose that Ms. Fornell had been a party in two civil actions over twenty years ago, one as a defendant in a case filed in 1973, and the other as a plaintiff in an auto negligence case filed in 1975. The 1973 small claims case had been resolved by stipulation about six months after filing, and no final judgment was ever entered. The 1975 action was actually initiated by Fornell and other members of the Fornell family against Florida Ranch Enterprises.

The trial court carefully considered the three motions, which had been prepared and filed over a ten-month period, and reviewed the record of litigation documents. Based upon this review, it made, inter alia, these findings of fact:

[T]hese jurors failed to disclose these prior litigation matters despite being asked, without ambiguity, whether such matters existed.

[T]he failure to disclose such information was not and could not possibly be attributed to any lack of diligence of the Plaintiff. In point of fact, this court specifically finds that counsel for the plaintiff specifically asked for this information in an unambiguous fashion.

[M]oreover, this court finds that the litigation history of the actual jurors herein is relevant and material to their jury service notwithstanding the fact that the history may involve a different type of case and may be considered remote in time.

After considering the applicable case law, the trial court granted Roberts' motion and ordered a new trial. The court stated during the pertinent hearing:

THE COURT: Under the analysis of the cases that are out there, I have to agree with the Plaintiff. I don't think I have any choice.

I think that I can find from this record that [juror Fornell] is personally named in at least two cases, and even though they may be remote, 20 years remote, it doesn't seem to matter, because it could have led to legitimate inquiry by Plaintiffs counsel during voir dire that could have led to relevant information about the juror, and I think I can find from this record that [juror Guerrero] was the petitioner in the domestic violence case. A named petitioner.

She sought relief in a court of law, even though in a few days it was dismissed, and I think I can find from this record that both Fornell and Guerrero failed to disclose that. I'm not finding they were untruthful, I'm simply finding that that information was not revealed during voir dire and that the Plaintiff made legitimate and, I think, adequate inquiry that should have elicited a response revealing that information.

I disagree with the Third District's rationale in this entire line of cases, that whether there is prejudice is basically irrelevant, and that whether there was ample evidence to support a verdict is essentially irrelevant.

They have pretty much stated—and I have to follow a rule that if there was— that juror information on prior litigation history is relevant and if there is an adequate inquiry and the information is not revealed, regardless of why, whether it is lack of knowledge, lack of truthfulness, just inaccuracy or forgetfulness, those reasons are irrelevant. The failure to reveal it is automatically grounds for a new trial.

MR. MCCOY: Are you making a finding with respect to the relevance of this information; first with respect to [juror Guerrero] and the petition for injunction in domestic violence court?

THE COURT: I personally wouldn't find that to be of such moment, that in and of itself, that it would fall under the litigation history gathered. However, the question by the Plaintiff during voir dire was broad enough that it should have elicited that response.

Certainly it should have at least elicited that she had been involved in a court case involving her boyfriend or whoever it was, a domestic violence situation, because whether you are looking at the petition she sought and initiated or you're looking at another criminal case where she was a victim, assuming she was, then all of those facts should have been elicited.

They were fair game for either attorney to go into, if they

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