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Banks v. Village Enterprises12/5/2000
Juror Bagley's explanation and did so here. Since at the time of voir dire Juror Bagley was not acquainted with plaintiffs and was not aware of his in-laws' acquaintance with them, he simply did not fail to disclose relevant information requested by KFC, for one cannot disclose or fail to disclose a matter of which one is unaware. In such a case, we do not even reach the issue whether nondisclosure was intentional, for there simply was no nondisclosure at all, in that, if a venireperson reveals everything that is known and relevant at the time of the voir dire question, and indeed, accurately responds to the question as it is posed, the venireperson "has disclosed everything that the voir dire question requires and no nondis-closure of any kind occurred." Heinen, 982 S.W.2d at 248. Accord, McHaffie By and Through McHaffie v. Bunch, 891 S.W.2d 822, 829 (Mo. banc 1995).
To illustrate, in Heinen, the defendant charged that Juror Hellon failed to disclose his involvement in a lawsuit, although the venire panel had been asked, on voir dire, whether anyone on the panel had ever "been sued," or whether anyone had been a plaintiff, that is, "the one that filed the lawsuit." Heinen, 982 S.W.2d at 248. Evidence adduced at the post-trial hearing on the issue indicated that at the time of voir dire, Juror Hellon had no knowledge that a lawsuit had been filed on his behalf nearly eight years before. Id. Accordingly, because Juror Hellon had no knowledge of the suit at the time of voir dire, our Supreme Court found that he had "disclosed everything that the voir dire question require ," and that "his silence to defendant's question was complete disclosure." Id.
Similarly, in McHaffie, the venire was asked whether "any of [them had] been involved in making a claim against another individual, filing a lawsuit?", and whether they had "consulted with a lawyer or actually filed a lawsuit?" 891 S.W.2d at 829. Juror Porter did not respond to this question. Defendants alleged juror nondisclosure when it was later learned that her daughter had long before been involved in an accident, as to which no lawsuit was ever filed, and from which her daughter had received a settlement. Our Supreme Court rejected the argument, noting that " he question defines 'claim' by 'filing a lawsuit' and appears to be addressed to suits involving venirepersons rather than family members." Id. Because Juror Porter herself was not directly involved in her daughter's case, and further because no lawsuit was ever filed before the case settled, the Supreme Court concluded that there was no failure to disclose on the part of Juror Porter. Id.
These cases, distilled to their essence, indicate that in order to successfully advance a claim of juror nondisclosure, counsel must have asked a question reasonably calculated to elicit the allegedly withheld information. If the juror's answer -- or lack thereof -- reasonably responds to the voir dire question as it was posed, and it reveals all known and relevant information, there has been no juror nondisclosure, intentional or otherwise. No further inquiry is necessary, These principles are applicable here. Mr. Bagley was not asked about his family's rela-tion-ship with the Banks, and in any event did not know of that relationship at the time of voir dire and was not himself acquainted with the Banks. Accordingly, he did not fail to disclose relevant information, and the trial court acted well within its discretion in refusing to grant a new trial on this basis.
B. Choking Incident.
During voir dire, counsel for KFC also asked the venire panel members the following question concerning their experience with, or knowledge of, choking injuries:
ar
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