Calif. Appellate Court Stops Asbestos Trial Judge From Questioning Jurors Without Counsel Present

SAN FRANCISCO –– A California appellate court has granted a petition for writ of mandate, effectively stopping an asbestos trial judge from questioning two empaneled jurors without counsel present.

In an Aug. 6 order, the California 1st Appellate District Court of Appeal granted the defendant’s petition and stayed an ex parte hearing scheduled for Friday, Aug. 9, during which Judge Newton J. Lam of the San Francisco Superior Court had intended to question jurors about alleged biases towards the defendants.

In its two-page order, the appellate court cited a California Judicial Conduct Handbook, which says that “communication between the …