Retrial denied in Anderson civil suit

 

October 22, 2016



WORLAND - A mistrial/request for retrial hearing in the case of Stephanie Anderson versus Edward M. Zimmerman concluded early Friday morning, with Fifth Judicial District Court Judge Robert Skar denying the plaintiff’s request, based on Wyoming case law, upheld by the Wyoming Supreme Court. Attorneys for Anderson had requested a new trial due to a claim of juror misconduct in the original trial, which concluded on Aug. 12 of this year, with the jury finding Zimmerman was not at fault for the death of Kevin Anderson of Worland in 2013.

On September 6, attorneys for Anderson filed a motion for mistrial / new trial due to juror misconduct, citing the attorneys were contacted by the foreperson of the original jury, who testified that during deliberations, a member of the jury expressed the opinion “Dr. Zimmerman did not matter because God called Kevin [Anderson] home.”

Noting that several potential jurors were excused from the case for expressing the same opinion during selection, attorneys for Anderson argued that the juror in question hid his/her opinion during selection, and such misconduct is prejudicial to the rights of the plaintiff in this case.

Attorney for the defendant, George E. Powers of Cheyenne, argued in his response that the Wyoming Supreme Court has upheld previous attempts of declaring mistrial based on juror testimony, as state law clearly prohibits a juror from testifying as to any matter or statement occurring during jury deliberations.

On Friday morning, Judge Skar, after hearing similar arguments from both legal teams, simply ruled that no retrial would be granted due to a law upheld by both the Wyoming and United States Supreme Courts, denying retrial based on juror deliberation accusations or remarks, or using a jury member as a witness thereof.

In making his judgement, Judge Skar referenced Wyoming Rules of Evidence, Rule 606 (b), which states in part, “a juror may not testify as to any matter or statement occurring during the course of the jury’s deliberations or to the effect of anything upon his or any other juror’s mind or emotions as influencing him to assent to or dissent from the verdict or indictment or concerning his mental processes in connection therewith, nor may his affidavit or evidence of any statement by him concerning a matter about which he would be precluded from testifying be received, but a juror may testify on the questions whether extraneous prejudicial information was improperly brought to the jury’s attention or whether any outside influence was improperly brought to bear upon any juror.”

The case stems from the July 2013 death of Worland teacher Kevin R. Anderson. According to the original complaint filed by Stephanie Anderson in the Fifth Judicial District, Kevin Anderson was transported to the Washakie Medical Center on the night of July 19, 2013, entered into the emergency room under the care of Dr. Edward Zimmerman and treated for acute abdominal, back and groin pain.

Zimmerman diagnosed Anderson with a small, uncomplicated kidney stone, and administered 4 milligrams of hydromorphone, an opiod-based pain medication. Anderson was discharged at 2:30 a.m. and went home assisted by his wife, where he was found dead in bed four hours later.

During the August trial, jurors determined that Zimmerman did not cause the death of Anderson, and did not breach the standard of care.

 
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