On August 18, 2014, the Second District Appellate Court of Illinois held that a plaintiff's original jury demand covered a third-party claim against an insurer that had been assigned to the plaintiff as part of a settlement agreement.
The Illinois Supreme Court ruled in Martinez that, even though the jury was already empanelled, the defendant was not in jeopardy because the state stood silently by and presented no evidence.
By J. Timothy Eaton, Michael W. Rathsack, & Michael T. Reagan
March
2013
Article
, Page 142
More and more Illinois courts are upholding general verdicts if there is any error-free basis for doing so. They should do the opposite, these authors say.
Starting next month, jurors will be permitted to submit written questions for witnesses to the court for consideration. Proponents say it will help jurors understand the case and stay engaged.
The Jury Act and the Jury Commission Act have been amended to prohibit persons who have been excused from jury duty due to a total and permanent disability from ever serving as a juror again. (705 ILCS 305/10.4, 10.5 new).
An Illinois Pattern Jury Instruction doesn't state the correct standard for determining whether a physician's conduct was reasonable in a med-mal case, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled.
Allowing jurors to ask questions during trial would keep the jury engaged and give lawyers a chance to refine their cases in response to juror queries, the authors argue.
A party making a Batson objection to an opponent's peremptory challenge should have to show that removing the would-be juror amounts to purposeful racial discrimination, the author argues.
Courts should allow questioning of prospective jurors on immigration-related bias, the authors say. They also suggest questions that can expose immigrant bias during jury selection.
A supreme court rule requires judges to ask potential jurors whether they understand and accept four fundamental principles of criminal law. But following the rule is easier said than done.
The Illinois legal community lacks a set of commonly understood, shorthand objections to identify improper questions during voir dire examination of prospective jurors.
