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5/15/01

SUPREME COURT OF LOUISIANA NO. 00-C-2408 LULA CHARLENE RIDDLE AND PHILLIP RIDDLE Versus LARRY BICKFORD, BRENDA BICKFORD, WHITNEY A. LANGLOIS, DONNA HICKS ENGLADE, MORRIS W. JAMES, BARBARA McDANELL JAMES, THE BRISTOL DUPLEXES HOMEOWNERS' ASSOCIATION, JAMES & LAVENTINO PARTNERSHIP, ALLSTATE INSURANCE COMPANY AND STATE FARM FIRE AND CASUALTY COMPANY ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF APPEAL FIRST CIRCUIT, PARISH OF EAST BATON ROUGE JOHNSON, Justice. We granted certiorari to determine whether, pursuant to La. C.C.P. art. 1766(C), the practice of "back-striking" jurors during the jury selection process is mandated in civil trials. Over the objection of plaintiff's counsel, the trial court refused to allow counsel to back-strike jurors during the jury selection process. The court of appeal held that the trial judge's decision to not allow back-striking did not constitute legal error and affirmed the trial court's judgment on the merits. After thorough review of the law and the record, we affirm the decision of the lower courts. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY This matter arises out of a suit filed by Lula Charlene Riddle and her husband, Phillip Riddle (Plaintiffs), alleging that Mrs. Riddle was injured at a swimming pool located on the premises of the Bristol Duplexes, owned by defendants, Larry and Brenda Bickford. Plaintiffs allege that Mrs. Riddle was injured on July 9, 1993, when she tripped over a piece of wood that was placed

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over several anchor bolts once used to secure a diving board. As a result of the accident, Mrs. Riddle sustained herniated lumbar discs at L5-S1 and L3-4, for which she underwent an L5-S1 discetomy with L5 laminotomy on August 6, 1993. On July 11, 1994, plaintiffs filed suit and named the owners of the Bristol Duplexes, Larry Bickford and Brenda Bickford, among other owners, and their insurance companies, Allstate Insurance Company, State Farm Fire and Casualty Company, and the Millers Insurance Group, as the defendants therein.1 Prior to trial, Mr. and Mrs. Riddle dismissed their claims against the individual defendants, and pursuant to a joint stipulation, the matter proceeded to trial against the defendant insurance companies. This matter was tried before a jury on July 28-31, 1998. At the outset of the jury selection process, the trial judge informed counsel that "back-striking" would not be permitted. After questioning members from each panel of prospective jurors, the selected jurors were immediately sworn and placed in the jury room. Back striking is the practice of allowing both sides, after selecting jurors from the last panel, to go back and expend any remaining peremptory challenges to exclude jurors selected from previous panels, before accepting and swearing the entire jury. Counsel for plaintiffs noted an objection to the judge's refusal to allow back-striking. Consequently, counsel for plaintiffs was left with two unexpended peremptory challenges and was unable to use said challenges to strike previously-selected jurors. At the conclusion of the trial, the jury returned a verdict finding that the existence of the plank or board constituted a defective condition, but found no causation, by vote of ten (10) to two (2), finding that Mrs. Riddle had not sustained
Millers Insurance Group was added as a defendant through an amended petition filed on March 12, 1997. 2
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any injury or damage as a result of said condition. The trial judge rendered judgment in accordance with the jury verdict, dismissing plaintiff's claims with prejudice and at their cost. Plaintiffs appealed seeking de novo review from the court of appeal, arguing that the trial court committed legal error in refusing to allow them to exercise their remaining peremptory challenges before the entire jury had been accepted and sworn. In response, defendants filed answers to the appeal, taking issue with the jury's finding that there existed a defective condition at the pool. The court of appeal held that the trial judge's decision not to permit back-striking in this civil case did not constitute an error of law and, therefore, de novo review was not appropriate. Although conceding that back-striking has been recognized as an acceptable practice in criminal cases, the court of appeal stated that it was "[not] prepared to mandate that said practice be the rule in civil cases." Additionally, the court of appeal noted that it has been unable to find a single case holding that the practice of back-striking is mandated in civil cases. Judge Carter, joined by Judge LeBlanc, dissented, opining that the trial court committed legal error in refusing to allow plaintiffs to exercise their remaining peremptory challenges before the entire jury had been accepted and sworn. Judge Carter reasoned that the plain language of the La. C.C.P. art. 1766(C) logically means that a party has the right to back-strike. We granted the writ application to determine the correctness of the lower courts' decision. Riddle v. Bickford, et al., (La. 2000) __So.2d __. DISCUSSION The United States Constitution and the Louisiana Constitution expressly guarantee the criminally accused the right to a jury trial. U.S. Const. Amend VI;

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La. Const. Art I,

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Louisiana Law