Civil Procedure
Story on Motion to Compel Appropriate Shoes Caused Mistrial
Posted Jul 14, 2009, 08:13 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
A newspaper column about a motion to compel defense counsel to wear appropriate shoes at trial resulted in a mistrial after one juror read the article to others.
Judge Donald Hafele of Palm Beach County declared the mistrial in an auto negligence case, but allowed jurors to render an advisory verdict, the Palm Beach Post reports. Jurors found for the plaintiff, whose lawyer had filed the unusual motion, and assessed damages at $2.2 million.
Bill Bone of Larmoyeux & Bone claimed in the pretrial motion—denied by the judge—that defense lawyer Michael Robb has a habit of wearing shoes with holes in the soles while on trial. The tactic is "a ruse to impress the jury and make them believe that Mr. Robb is humble and simple without sophistication," the motion claimed.
During personal injury trials, Robb will throw out statements such as “I’m just a simple lawyer,” suggesting that the plaintiff and his lawyer are not as sincere and down to earth, according to the motion.
Columnist Frank Cerabino wrote about the original motion and a second column in the Palm Beach Post about the resulting mistrial.
ABAJournal.com covered the motion last week but didn’t note the mistrial. Above the Law also has the update.