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Banks v. Village Enterprises12/5/2000
stion posed." Id.
"Nondisclosure, whether intentional or unintentional, can occur only after a clear question is asked on voir dire." Brines, 882 S.W.2d at 139. Accordingly, courts have recog-nized that counsel can cause confusion among venire persons when he or she "narrow the focus of the [voir dire] questions." Williams, 736 S.W.2d at 37 (finding that jurors' answers to counsel's questions during voir dire were reasonably calculated to answer the question asked, because counsel consistently narrowed the focus of the questions to actions involving personal injuries, nothing more; and this resulted in a reasonable inability to comprehend the information solicited by the questions asked on voir dire); Heinen v. Healthline Management, Inc., 982 S.W.2d 244, 249 (Mo. banc 1998) (because counsel indicated to venirepersons that he did not seek any information concerning "divorces or child custody" cases when he asked whether any prospective juror had been "sued," it was reasonable for venireperson to omit any mention of domestic litigation to which he had been a party).
A trial court's findings concerning whether a juror has failed to disclose relevant infor-mation, and concerning whether a juror's explanation for any non-disclosure is reasonable, are accorded great weight, and will not be disturbed on appeal unless the trial court abused its discretion. Brines, 882 S.W.2d at 139; Jackson v. Watson, 978 S.W.2d 829, 832-33 (Mo. App. W.D. 1998). Moreover, where, as here, the trial court denied the party's motion for new trial without making specific findings, we consider all findings necessary to the result to be implicit in the trial court's decision. Rogers v. Bond, 880 S.W.2d 607, 610 (Mo. App. E.D. 1994). We apply these rules to the three voir dire nondisclosure errors alleged by KFC.
A. Acquaintance with Mr. and Mrs. Banks.
Mr. and Mrs. Banks were the plaintiffs in this action. Accordingly, during voir dire the court asked the venire panel, " s anyone acquainted with them or had any social, business or professional relationships with them?" Later, counsel for Mr. and Mrs. Banks asked: " o I take it then that there is no one else here who has had a prior relationship of any type even just an acquaintance with Mr. or Mrs. Banks?" No jurors responded. But, after trial, KFC discovered that while the trial was under way Juror Bagley had chanced upon his in-laws dining with Mr. and Mrs. Banks at a local restaurant, and had mentioned this encounter during jury deliberations. KFC alleges that Juror Bagley's failure to disclose his in-laws' acquaintance with Mr. and Mrs. Banks constituted intentional nondisclosure requiring a new trial. We disagree.
Most basically, counsel's question asked only whether any members of the venire were acquainted with the plaintiffs, Mr. or Mrs. Banks. It did not ask whether any of their relatives were acquainted with them. It is not contended even now that Juror Bagley was personally acquainted with the plaintiffs. Counsel alleges only that his parents-in-law were acquainted with them. Thus, even had Juror Bagley been aware of that acquaintance during voir dire, the ques-tion asked did not call for him to reveal it. Moreover, during the post-trial hearing on this issue, Juror Bagley testified that at the time of voir dire he was not aware that his in-laws were acquainted with the plaintiffs. He did not learn that they were until he saw the two couples eating together during the trial, after voir dire was over. While he was generally aware that his in-laws had acquaintances named Banks, he had had never met that family and did not realize that they were the same Banks as the plaintiffs.
The trial court was free to believe
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