Section 45 Voir Dire

• Library: Prof Liability 2005

Stallings v. Washington University, 794 S.W.2d 264 (Mo. App. E.D. 1990), ruled that a juror’s failure to disclose on voir dire examination that he had been a defendant in a personal injury action did not require a new trial when the juror was never asked whether he ever had a claim asserted or filed against him. The court of appeals stated that the trial court had discretion to determine whether concealment by the juror on voir dire was intentional or unintentional, and the court’s ruling would not be reversed absent an abuse of discretion. Id.

Williams ex rel. Wilford v. Barnes Hospital, 736 S.W.2d 33 (Mo. banc 1987), sets out, in detail, what constitutes an “intentional nondisclosure” of information by potential jurors during voir dire. A plaintiff’s verdict for alleged...