Judge Lucy Koh handed down two ruling on Monday in relation to the Apple vs Samsung case in which Apple won $1 billion in damages from the jury. In one of two rulings, Judge Koh denied Samsung’s request for the dismissal of the verdict Apple won and order a new trial based on the misconduct on the jury foreman.
Samsung had filed a motion requesting a retrial based on the jury foreman’s failure to declare previous lawsuit with Seagate Technology, which led to his filing for personal bankruptcy in 1993. Samsung alleged that may have resulted in the foreman being bias against the South Korean technology giant.
“Samsung has a substantial strategic relationship with Seagate, which culminated last year in the publicized sale of a division to Seagate in a deal worth $1.375 billion, making Samsung the single largest direct shareholder of Seagate,” the company said in its October motion. “Mr. Hogan’s failure to disclose the Seagate suit raises issues of bias that Samsung should have been allowed to explore in questioning.”
In her ruling Judge Koh was not persuaded by Samsung allegation of misconduct by the foreman after the trial has gone against them.
According to Judge Koh:
[quote] Samsung has waived its claim for an evidentiary hearing and a new trial based on Mr. Hogan’s alleged dishonesty during voir dire. Prior to the verdict, Samsung could have discovered Mr. Hogan’s litigation with Seagate, had Samsung acted with reasonable diligence based on information Samsung acquired through voir dire, namely that Mr. Hogan stated during voir dire that he had worked for Seagate.[/quote]
Source: CNET
