In a matter of first impression, the North Carolina Court of Appeals on Wednesday found that a trial court had no authority to grant a request to remove and replace a juror in a civil case after the jury had already been impaneled.
In a Jan. 15 opinion, the North Carolina Court of Appeals remanded a judgment entered against a couple who sued another couple for negligence, nuisance and trespassing on their property. Although the defendants suspected a juror of personal connections to the plaintiffs and won a verdict from the jury, Appellate Judge Allegra Collins ruled a trial court cannot allow a peremptory challenge and reopen a jury after it’s impaneled.