Texas Appeals Court Upholds Defense Verdict in Rezulin Case

HOUSTON - Contact between a shadow juror and a juror that was limited to the request for a cigarette and a quarter does not constitute juror misconduct that would warrant a new trial, an appeals court has ruled in upholding one of the nation's first Rezulin verdicts. Laura Mercado and Penny Litzman, v. Warner-Lambert Co., Appellee, No. 01-02-00353-CV (Texas Ct. App., First Dist.).

The May 8 ruling, authored by Justice George C. Hanks of the First District Texas Court of Appeals, affirms a lower court's decision to deny a motion for a new trial in the case, which was …