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California Legal Ethics Keyed to Wydick, 12th Ed.
Lind v. Medevac, Inc.
Citation:
219 Cal. App. 3d 516, 268 Cal. Rptr. 359 (1990)Facts
After a jury verdict in favor of the defendants in a personal injury action, plaintiff moved for a new trial based on alleged jury misconduct. Plaintiff was unable to obtain juror affidavits to support the motion because defense counsel, B. Mark Fong, Jr., had sent a letter to the jurors warning them about potential contact from plaintiff’s investigators. The letter characterized such potential contact as employing “sharp investigative tactics” to “impeach the jury’s verdict” and have it “set aside as improper.” The letter advised jurors they were under no obligation to speak with investigators and requested that jurors contact defense counsel if anyone attempted to speak with them about their jury service. The trial court found this letter violated the Rules of Professional Conduct and imposed $20,000 in sanctions against defense counsel under the court’s inherent powers pursuant to former Code of Civil Procedure section 128.
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