Well, it's off to the races time and the jury selection has begun down
in Angleton, Texas on the first Vioxx case to go to trial. I"m going to
be fascinated to see what kind of jury they seat, but the initial pool
was filling out their questionnaires and information sheets that are
such a big part of any trial of this size or magnitude. I've always
been fascinated by jury selection science, although I still feel it is
more art then science, and the kind of group that is eventually
impaneled. A very solid human interest side to this in the NY Times is available.
As the Scrushy trial proved in Alabama, venue and jury pool still have
a huge, huge impact on the plaintiff or defendant's chances at a
favorable outcome, and I don't believe it is a good draw for Merck to
have the first case in SE Texas. I don't know a thing about the
presiding judge, Ben Hardin, but he will have to be one very solid
jurist to ride herd over this trial.
Should make for some fascinating trial watching and starting in two
weeks we will have a correspondent there locally to provide additional
insights through our podcasts on The Legal Broadcast Network.
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