News

High drama, high stakes in store in malpractice case

Dr. Michael Rosner (left) confers with defense attorney Scott Stevenson. Plaintiff Billy Justus leaves Henderson County Courthouse with attorney Wade Byrd.

By Bill Moss, Published: August 10, 2014

The presence of the former governor on the plaintiff's side prompted Rosner's attorneys to file a motion seeking an order specifically barring the attorneys from referring to the former governor as "governor."
Any reference to Easley as governor "would be irrelevant, unfairly prejudicial, misleading and/or confusing to the jury," the defense attorneys said. Judge Bridges agreed. All will call him "Mr. Easley."

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The attorneys and on occasion Judge Guice found plenty of reason to boot prospective jurors from the pool.
In all, the clerk of court called 291 prospective jurors, including a sheriff's detective, who was seated as an alternate, and a pediatrician, who was never called. Prospective jurors who worked for Park Ridge were eliminated, as were those who knew Billy, who worked at G.E., or Pam Justus. One afternoon, a bailiff reported a message from the clerk's office. A prospective juror in the holding room had fled outside to her car to call her mother.
"Her mother called and told us her daughter is having a panic attack in the parking lot," the bailiff said.
Judge Guice peered down at the attorneys.
"Should we just go ahead and excuse her right now?" he asked.
They all nodded vigorously.
As it turned out, the jury pool contained two people from a set of couples vacationing at an Italian villa later this month.
"I don't know how we could be so lucky," Judge Guice told the second of the two jurors who had scheduled the vacation abroad. "Where you're going they probably never heard of Henderson County or know it exists."
When the next juror with a vacation said he and his family were just going to Hilton Head, the judge endorsed that destination. "In this day and time I'd rather be going on your vacation," he said.
One of Byrd's standard questions, designed to discover any built-in bias, was about bumper stickers. Nearly all said no.
"Do you have a bumper sticker? We've been waiting on a bumper sticker," he asked one woman, near the end of the long process.
"I do," she answered with a triumphant smile. "Triple A."
After striking 45 jurors for perceived or actual conflicts of interest or prejudice, the attorneys agreed on a jury of six men and six women plus four alternates.