Michelin North America, Inc. v. Lovett, 97-4499.
| Decision Date | 31 March 1999 |
| Docket Number | No. 97-4499.,97-4499. |
| Citation | 731 So.2d 736 |
| Parties | MICHELIN NORTH AMERICA, INC., f/k/a Michelin Tire Corporation, and Davis Bandag Recapping & Tire Co., Appellants, v. Julian Bernard LOVETT, Dorothy Mae Lovett, and Julian Lovett, Jr., By and Through his next friend and guardian, Dorothy Mae Lovett, Appellees. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Daniel S. Pearson, Linda Collins Hertz, Christopher N. Bellows, Lenore C. Smith, and Lucinda A. Hofmann of Holland & Knight, LLP, Miami, for appellants.
Joseph J. Reiter and Donald R. Fountain, Jr., of Lytal, Reiter, Clark, Fountain & Williams, and Jane Kreusler-Walsh of Jane Kreusler-Walsh, P.A., West Palm Beach, for appellees.
Michelin North America, Inc., f/k/a Michelin Tire Corp., and Davis Bandag Recapping & Tire Co., (collectively "Michelin") appeal a final judgment awarding appellees Julian Lovett, Dorothy Lovett, and Julian Lovett, Jr., damages of $30,424,000. Michelin presents four points on appeal. The first three concern alleged errors in voir dire and the fourth concerns the amount of damages awarded. Our review of the record on appeal and application of pertinent case law leads us reluctantly and unavoidably to the conclusion that error occurred in the denial of Michelin's peremptory challenge of Ms. Shirley Meeks, an African-American woman who served on the Lovetts' jury. Thus, we are constrained to reverse the judgment on appeal and remand for a new trial. Our resolution of this point on appeal renders Michelin's other three points moot.
The Lovetts sued Michelin alleging Julian Lovett suffered a catastrophic accident resulting in the amputation of his legs as a result of a hidden defect which caused the Michelin tire on Mr. Lovett's tractor-trailer rig to blowout on April 24, 1989. The circumstances of Mr. Lovett's injuries and the suffering he and his family have endured were made clear during the course of their four week trial. For purposes of this appeal, we limit our recitation of the facts to those material to the voir dire error.
The parties began questioning the second venire panel on the second day of voir dire after the first venire panel was excused by the trial court. Among the twenty-four potential jurors in this second venire panel was Ms. Meeks, a resident of Riviera Beach for approximately forty-six years who was employed by the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners in the Public Affairs Office as a secretary responsible for disseminating information. Ms. Meeks was married with three children, one of whom worked at a Firestone Tire and Service Center.
The Lovetts' counsel, Mr. Reiter, turned his questioning to the subject of the potential jurors' experiences with tire blowouts. Twenty-one of the twenty-four potential jurors admitted to some experience with either sudden flat tires or blowouts. Ms. Meeks was among those twenty-one. Ms. Meeks stated she experienced a blowout when she ran over something in the street and described how her B.F. Goodrich tire began to feel flat causing her to bring her vehicle to a stop on the side of the street. Her son replaced the tire with a Michelin tire.
Ms. Meeks went on to explain her daughter's very recent tire blowout experience:
While being questioned by Michelin's counsel, Mr. Rothman, Ms. Meeks responded to a question regarding family members or close friends involved in civil litigation by stating one of her children was in litigation with the State Attorney's office. Ms. Meeks said her child had been sued; however, it looked as if the case would be "thrown out." Mr. Rothman asked Ms. Meeks whether the suit was a personal injury suit or a commercial case or business case, and she responded the case was "personal."
Ms. Meeks was educated about tire maintenance by her son, who taught her to look for tire wear and continues to insist that maintenance on her vehicle be completed timely. When questioned regarding tire preference, Ms. Meeks volunteered she preferred both Michelin and Yokohama tires. Mr. Rothman did not inquire further of Ms. Meeks regarding her daughter's Michelin tire blowout.
During jury selection, Michelin first challenged Ms. Meeks for cause, noting what it alleged were evasive answers to questions regarding family members involved in litigation. The trial court denied Michelin's challenge for cause. As jury selection neared a close, Michelin peremptorily challenged Ms. Meeks and the Lovetts objected on the basis Michelin's challenge was racially motivated. Michelin provided four reasons for its challenge:
The trial court did not expressly find any reason Michelin gave for its peremptory challenge was race-neutral, yet it allowed Mr. Reiter to respond. Mr. Reiter argued the last of Michelin's three reasons, that Ms. Meeks was a county employee, was an insufficient reason unless Michelin could show some relationship between her employment and this case. The court agreed. Mr. Reiter next argued Michelin's "bad vibes and bad feelings" concerning Ms. Meeks' explanation of her son's involvement in litigation was not a sufficiently clear and reasonably specific explanation for exercising a peremptory challenge. The trial court apparently agreed with Mr. Reiter again because the trial judge stated: "Yeah, but what about the blowout with the kid?"
Mr. Reiter asserted there were other jurors who had blowouts involving Michelin tires who were not challenged, including Mr. Hoag. As we discuss in greater detail below, and as clarified by the chart contained in the Appendix to this opinion, Mr. Reiter's statement was inaccurate. The record shows Mr. Hoag did not know the make of his two tires that suffered blowouts; however, Mr. Hoag had returned a spare tire that was a Michelin, when he observed the tire was cut on the sidewall. Further, Mr. Hoag had been stricken peremptorily by the Lovetts before Michelin challenged Ms. Meeks. Mr. Reiter also asserted "two or three other jurors talked about Michelin blowouts that actually happened to them." Again, the record shows Mr. Reiter's recollection of voir dire responses was inaccurate.
Before returning to a recitation of the material facts, we pause briefly to note a concern. The exercise of compiling the chart contained in the Appendix made it obvious to us that the trial court and counsel faced a significant challenge to quickly recall during the jury selection process the details of each of the twenty-four jurors' various experiences with tire blowouts. Voir dire is a significant part of any trial, whether that trial is expected to last two days or four weeks. During a Neil inquiry, the court must make the important determination of whether the challenged juror is being treated differently than similarly situated jurors. In light of the import of this inquiry, rather than relying on recollections of voir dire responses, we believe the better practice would be to have the jurors' voir dire responses read back by the court reporter. See Overstreet v. State, 712 So.2d 1174 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998).
As the inquiry below continued, the trial court apparently was not yet...
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...1999) (reversing because the trial court erred in "finding that the reason for the strike was genuine"); Michelin N. Am., Inc. v. Lovett, 731 So.2d 736, 742-43 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999) (reversing because the trial court erred in finding the reason for the strike pretextual); Henry v. State, 724 ......
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Hamdeh v. State
...of the defendant's peremptory challenge as to Newton constitutes clear error and a new trial is required. See Michelin North America, Inc. v. Lovett, 731 So.2d 736 (Fla. 4th DCA), review denied, 751 So.2d 51 Reversed and remanded. ...
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The Preservation of Error During Voir Dire.
...before the jury is sworn."). (21) Lottimer v. N. Broward Hosp. Dist., 889 So. 2d 165 (Fla 4th DCA 2004); Michelin N. Am., Inc. v. Lovett, 731 So. 2d 736, 740 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999) ("The denial of a party's right to exercise peremptory challenges, so long as those challenges are not exercised ......
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An overview of current law impacting jury selection in civil cases.
...if a peremptory strike objection was not properly handled. This is precisely what happened in Michelin North America Inc. v. Lovett, 731 So. 2d 736 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999). During jury selection in Michelin, the defense attorney used a peremptory challenge on a prospective juror. The plaintiff ......