Pa. Appellate Court Says Jurors Who Dissent on Liability Can't Vote on Damages

PHILADELPHIA - Ruling on an issue of first impression, Pennsylvania's Superior Court has vacated a verdict in a personal injury case where the 10 (of 12) jurors who found liability were not the same 10 who agreed on the specific damages awarded. Fritz v. Wright, et al., No. 2663 EDA 2003 (Pa. Super. Ct.).

By a 2-1 vote, the Superior Court panel said the verdict violated the five-sixths rule required by Pennsylvania's Constitution (PA. CONST., art. 1, § 6 [1971]).

'[T]hat verdict was the verdict of only nine of the twelve jurors, and thus was not a verdict at all,' …