Art Press, Ltd. v. Western Printing Machinery Co.

• Decision Date: 27 June 1986
• Docket Number: No. 85-2192,85-2192
• Citation: 791 F.2d 616
• Parties: ART PRESS, LTD., a Canadian corporation, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. WESTERN PRINTING MACHINERY COMPANY, an Illinois corporation, Defendant- Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

Page 616

791 F.2d 616

54 USLW 2617

ART PRESS, LTD., a Canadian corporation, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. WESTERN PRINTING MACHINERY COMPANY, an Illinois corporation Defendant- Appellant.

No. 85-2192.

United States Court of Appeals Seventh Circuit.

Argued Jan. 23, 1986.

Decided May 30, 1986.

Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc Denied June 27, 1986.

Robert E. Kehoe, Jr., Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon, Chicago, Ill., for defendant-appellant.

Richard J. Gray, Jenner & Block, Chicago, for plaintiff-appellee.

Before BAUER, COFFEY and RIPPLE, Circuit Judges.

BAUER, Circuit Judge.

A jury awarded plaintiff, Art Press, Ltd., $94,709.10 in a warranty action for damages resulting from plaintiff's purchase of a paper cutting machine built by the defendant, Western Printing Machinery Company. We vacate the jury's verdict and the award and remand for a new trial because the district court unduly restricted the voir dire of the venirepersons.

I.

We will discuss the facts underlying this action only insofar as they are important to the trial court's voir dire of the potential jurors. At the final pre-trial conference, plaintiff's attorney requested that the trial judge ask each venireperson his occupation and level of formal education, and whether he had any family or friends in the printing or printing equipment business. Defendant's attorney joined in this request and further asked the court to question the potential jurors as to their mechanical aptitude, their hobbies and interests, and other background information.

The trial court suggested that the parties stipulate to a minimum educational level requirement for the jurors, but plaintiff's counsel declined. The trial court then asked counsel why he was interested in voir dire concerning the level of formal education, to which plaintiff's counsel responded:

[I]t helps me when I'm addressing the juror if I have some idea of who that juror is. It's just a question--and perhaps [defendant's counsel] will share my view here--of my understanding of what I need to do as a lawyer to relate to that particular juror, and if I have some idea of the educational background or the occupation of that juror, it allows me, I think, to do a better job of lawyering.

Defendant's counsel then added:

I guess there are a number of things to look for in trying to decide what is a good juror for this case or any case, although you want to tailor it to the ability to hear and understand the kinds of issues that are presented in this particular case. Certainly, we want to try to ferret out any bias that a witness may have, but on top of that, I think we also want to try to familiarize ourselves with the chemical background of the jurors, because each of these jurors is asked to bring to bear their background, experience and common judgments, common experiences, in deciding these issues, and in connection with trying to make a decision whether or not to exercise a peremptory challenge, I know myself, and I suspect [plaintiff's counsel], too, would like to know as much as we possibly can about each of these potential jurors. I agree with [plaintiff's counsel] that I don't think we can set any qualifications for eligibility here.

The trial judge stated that he had "grave doubts" about asking questions concerning education because he had once observed a case in which

one of the lawyers used his peremptory challenges to get rid of the only jurors who seemed by their background to be equipped to understand the case. That's why if you want to stipulate that you were looking for some minimum education, that would be fine, but I don't want you using--one of you using your peremptory challenges to get rid of a person who has some business background or some education and end up with a jury of people who don't know what's going on.

The trial judge took the parties' requests under advisement, but stated that he did not "want to make the voir dire a big deal in a case that's only going to last a couple of days."

When the jury venire was assembled, the trial judge first determined whether any of the venirepersons were not qualified under 28 U.S.C. 1865, which sets forth citizenship, minimum age, and other basic requirements for jury service. The trial judge then asked the prospective jurors only the following questions:

(1) the venireperson's name, address, and prior jury service;

(2) the venireperson's employer or occupation;

(3) the venireperson's familiarity with either party or their counsel;

(4) if the venireperson (or immediate family or friends) had been employed in the printing or machinery business;

(5) if the venireperson felt he could be impartial in the case.

The trial judge specifically rejected any voir dire as to the prospective jurors' education, stating that he did not want to "drag out in public the deficiencies of their education" and that if one of the attorneys exercised "a peremptory challenge against someone who had a deficient education, it might be a little embarrassing." The trial judge further stated that the attorneys could "infer from their occupation and their accent what kind of education [the venirepersons] have."

On appeal, the defendant argues that the trial judge so limited the voir dire of the potential jurors that it was prevented from intelligently exercising its peremptory challenges and from eliciting information which could have led to...