The Georgia Court of Appeals Re-Affirms the Right to a Fair and Impartial Jury

[W]e remain steadfast in our commitment as a Court to safeguarding the sacrosanct and cherished right to a fair and impartial jury trial...

- Judge Stephen Dillard, Georgia Court of Appeals

On December 16, 2011, in the case of Harper v. Barge Air Conditioning, Inc., the Georgia Court of Appeals re-affirmed its commitment to safeguarding the right to a fair and impartial jury. The Court determined that my client, Jocelyn Harper, who suffered severe brain injury after exposure to carbon monoxide at her place of employment, was denied a fair trial when the trial court allowed two prospective jurors to remain on the panel after they expressed clear bias in favor of the defense.  For example, one of the jurors was the personal accountant of the defense lawyer and a client of the defense lawyer.  During jury selection ("voir dire") I asked the accountant whether he would "be inclined to try to find in [defendant's] favor." The prospective juror responded, "What do you think?  Of course."  Despite a motion to strike the juror for cause, the trial court allowed him to stay on the panel along with another juror who expressed similar bias. In a strongly worded opinion, The Court of Appeals reversed the trial court, and made it abundantly clear that it will safeguard the right of Georgia citizens to a fair and impartial jury trial.  As Justice Dillard wrote:  

Accordingly, we reverse the judgment in favor of Barge and remand the case for a new trial. In doing so, we “deplore the significant burden a [second] retrial will impose, not only on the parties, but on the community as well,” and “[w]e are particularly troubled by the trial court's willingness to infect a trial with this kind of error when a solution (excusing the juror[s] for partiality) was so readily available.”  Nevertheless, we remain steadfast in our commitment as a Court to safeguarding the sacrosanct and cherished right to a fair and impartial jury trial, and we will continue to remand this case back to the trial court until Harper is provided with same.


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