Samsung was pinning its hopes for a retrial in the Apple v. Samsung case on allegations of juror misconduct, but it’s no-go on that front, as Judge Lucy Koh denied its request Monday evening.
Samsung had accused jury foreman Velvin Hogan of intentionally hiding information about a lawsuit he was involved in with Seagate. Samsung recently became a primary shareholder of the company, providing Hogan a reason to be biased. As such, the company had asked for an evidentiary hearing — in which all of the jury members would be brought back to the courtroom to be questioned about what impact Hogan had on deliberations — as well as a new trial.
In Monday’s court filing, Judge Koh expressed that the discovery problem was the fault of Samsung’s legal team. Hogan had admitted that he had worked for Seagate during the jury selection process, and Samsung had ample opportunity to discover the litigation if their legal team had “acted with reasonable diligence.”
Koh denied Samsung’s charges that in post-trial interviews, Hogan revealed that he had unfairly swayed the jury, making the point that such interviews are barred when considering an evidentiary hearing unless they proved Hogan had introduced “outside knowledge specific to the facts of this case” during the jury’s deliberations.
Koh also scolded the company’s attorneys for praising the jury, only to now blame their misconduct for ruining its chances. “Samsung cannot credibly claim that the jury’s conduct was simultaneously worthy of such great praise and so biased as to warrant a new trial,” Koh wrote.
While not surprising, Koh’s order is most assuredly a disappointing end to Samsung’s attempt to pursue this angle to gain a retrial.
It hasn’t been a total loss in court for Samsung though, as Judge Koh also denied Apple’s filing for a permanent sales ban on Samsung’s infringing products. Koh also has yet to rule on Apple’s request for additional damages, or Samsung’s request for the opposite. We’ll keep you posted.
