Darla FRITZ and Gordon Fritz, Appellants, v. Hazel WRIGHT, Carolyn Temple, Bonnie Stuart, and Samuel Wright, Individually and Doing Business as Wright‘s Lane Properties, Appellees.
No. 13 WAP 2006
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Decided Oct. 18, 2006.
907 A.2d 1083
Argued April 5, 2006.
Accordingly, I would hold the trial court did not commit reversible error in failing to instruct the jury on res ipsa loquitur, and I would reverse the Superior Court‘s holding in this regard.
Justice CASTILLE joins this dissenting opinion.
Nina B. Shapiro, Esq., for Darla Fritz and Gordon Fritz.
Gregory Buchwald Heller, Esq., for amicus curiae PA Trial Lawyers Association.
Peter Francis Schuchman, Jr., Esq., Wyomissing, for Hazel Wright, et al.
BEFORE: CAPPY, C.J., and CASTILLE, NEWMAN, SAYLOR, EAKIN, BAER and BALDWIN, JJ.
Justice BAER.
Appellant Gordon Fritz1 appeals from an order of the Superior Court reversing the order of the Court of Common Pleas of Chester County denying a motion for a mistrial filed by Hazel Wright, Carolyn Temple, Bonnie Stuart, and Samuel Wright (Appellees). The issue before this Court is whether
Appellant initiated this action by Writ of Summons and subsequent complaint filed on November 29, 2000, averring negligence by Appellees with respect to the design and maintenance of the driveway. Beginning on February 3, 2003, a three-day trial commenced before a twelve-member jury, during which the jury heard testimony that, among other damage claims, Appellant lost $45,000 in wages and suffered $6,300 in medical expenses as a result of his shoulder injury. After trial, the court submitted to the jury a verdict slip containing seven interrogatories.2 The twelve-person jury rendered its initial verdict in favor of Appellant for $51,300. Appellees’ counsel requested that the jury polled. After polling the jury twice, the trial court concluded that the jury had not reached a proper verdict because ten out of the twelve jurors did not agree on the amount of damages sustained by Appellant.3
Following further deliberations, the jury again returned to the courtroom and rendered its final verdict in favor of Appellant for $51,300. The trial court again polled the jury. The polled jury was unanimous that Appellees were negligent (question one); that Appellees’ negligence was a substantial factor in causing Appellant‘s harm (question two); and that Appellant was contributorily negligent (question three). On the issue of whether Appellant‘s contributory negligence was a substantial factor in bringing about his harm (question four), ten jurors agreed that it was not, while jurors four and eight stated that Appellant‘s contributory negligence was a substantial factor in bringing about his harm. On the question regarding the amount of damages (question six), while ten jurors believed that Appellant sustained $51,300 in damages, jurors four and nine stated that Appellant should only receive an award of $6,300.4 Thus, while ten jurors agreed on each individual interrogatory, the identities of the dissenters as to questions four and six were not consistent, and therefore, the same ten jurors did not agree as to all of the questions material to the verdict and award.
Appellees’ counsel moved for a mistrial, arguing that the jury was confused and had not reached a proper verdict because the same ten jurors did not agree on each question. The trial court denied Appellees’ motion and concluded that the jury had reached a valid verdict because at least ten out of twelve jurors agreed on every question on the verdict slip. The trial court opined that “[i]t is not unreasonable to infer that, rather than being confused, jurors no. 8 and 9 simply reached different conclusions about how to most fairly compensate [Appellant] in light of the evidence of damages, just as
Appellees appealed to the Superior Court, arguing that the verdict was improperly rendered because only nine jurors agreed with it in its entirety. A divided panel of the Superior Court agreed with Appellees, vacated the judgment, and remanded for a new trial. The panel majority examined the language of the Pennsylvania Constitution, which provides, in relevant part:
Trial by jury shall be as heretofore, and the right thereof remain inviolate. The General Assembly may provide, however, by law, that a verdict may be rendered by not less than five-sixths of the jury in any civil case.
Judge Olszewski filed a dissenting opinion, in which he opined that the “same-juror rule” established by the majority unconstitutionally burdens a litigant‘s right to a jury of twelve persons. He argued that there was a proper verdict in this case because at least ten jurors agreed Appellees were negligent; at least ten jurors agreed that Appellant‘s contributory negligence was not a substantial factor in bringing about his harm; and at least ten jurors agreed that Appellant was entitled to $51,300 in damages. In support of his position, Judge Olszewski relied on Blum v. Merrell Dow Pharm. Inc., 534 Pa. 97, 626 A.2d 537, 538 (1993), in which we articulated the constitutional right “entitling a party who properly demands a twelve person jury to a verdict from a jury of twelve persons,” and explicitly recognized that it is of constitutional importance for each one of those twelve jurors to be able to engage fully in deliberations. Id. at 546-47. He explained that the same-juror rule in effect obviated the role of dissenting jurors by effectively nullifying any of their votes that occurred subsequent to their first minority vote. Under such circumstances, he argued the parties would receive jury deliberations by fewer than twelve jurors in violation of the Pennsylvania Constitution as interpreted in Blum.
We granted allowance of appeal to determine whether Section 5104(b) and Article I, Section 6, of the Pennsylvania Constitution requires that the same ten jurors vote the same on each question listed on a special interrogatory verdict sheet for there to be a “verdict.” As this is a question of law, our scope of review is plenary and our standard of review is de novo. See Touloumes v. E.S.C. Inc., 899 A.2d 343, 346 (2006). Appellant argues that neither the Pennsylvania Constitution Article I, Section 6, nor
Appellant further argues that the Superior Court majority opinion would complicate the jury deliberation process, thus undermining legislative intent in providing for less than unanimous verdicts, which Appellant posits was to simplify the jury deliberation process and reduce judicial inefficiency. Rather, Appellant advocates for the position espoused by Judge Olszewski, commonly referred to as the “any-majority rule,” under which each matter submitted to the jury must be decided by a five-sixths majority, but the same five-sixths majority need not carry over from question to question.
Appellant points to decisions from New York and New Jersey, which have interpreted their respective five-sixths jury statutes to hold that a different five-sixths of the jurors could answer each of the interrogatories, as long as every determination was supported by at least five-sixths of the jury. See Mahoney v. Podolnick, 168 N.J. 202, 773 A.2d 1102 (2001) (holding that under the “any-majority rule,” jurors vote on every issue irrespective of their votes on other issues, juror‘s votes on different issues do not have to be logically consistent, and a plaintiff prevails if five-sixths of jurors finds in his favor on each element of the cause of action); Schabe v. Hampton Bays Union Free Sch. Dist., 103 A.D.2d 418, 480 N.Y.S.2d 328 (N.Y.App.Div.1984) (holding that the validity of a verdict does not depend upon consistency of individual juror voting patterns, and it is not required that all interrogatory answers approved by five-sixth vote must have the concurrence of the same jurors). As Judge Olszewski did, Appellant also relies on our decision in Blum, 626 A.2d at 538, and argues that the Superior Court majority erodes the constitutional entitlement to full consideration by a jury of twelve.
On the other hand, Appellees argue in support of the same-juror rule. In the context of this case, they argue that the verdict announced by the jury was not really a verdict at all, because only nine of twelve jurors agreed with all components
Appellees also challenge Appellant‘s reliance on cases from New York and New Jersey. Appellees note that the number of states endorsing the any-majority rule is roughly the same as the number of states rejecting the rule, although they only identify one case that rejects the any-majority rule. See O‘Connell v. Chesapeake & Ohio R. Co., 58 Ohio St.3d 226, 569 N.E.2d 889, 898 (Ohio 1991) (holding that in a case tried under comparative negligence principles, three-fourths of the jury must agree as to both negligence and proximate cause, and only those jurors who so find may participate in the apportionment of comparative negligence).
Appellees urge us to reject the argument that the Superior Court‘s holding invades the province of the jury and is an unconstitutional burden on the litigant‘s right to have the case decided by a jury of twelve because, they argue, nothing in the Superior Court decision suggests that less than twelve jurors may consider the issues. Appellees also rely on Blum, arguing that because litigants have a right to a trial by jury of twelve, they have the corresponding right to a verdict agreed to by at least ten of those twelve.
The parties’ arguments and the positions of the Superior Court majority and dissent articulate two possible approaches to non-unanimous verdicts.5 First, the position adopted by the Superior Court majority and advocated by Appellees is the same-juror rule, also known as the “same-jurors rule” or “identical jurors rule,” which requires that the same jurors agree on all of the questions comprising the verdict slip. States adopting the same-juror rule express
In contrast, in states subscribing to the any-majority rule, any ten jurors agreeing on each of a series of questions is sufficient to support a verdict (or nine jurors, depending on the minimum required for non-unanimous verdicts). See, e.g., Mahoney, 168 N.J. 202, 773 A.2d 1102; Schabe, 103 A.D.2d 418, 480 N.Y.S.2d 328; Juarez v. Superior Court, 31 Cal.3d 759, 183 Cal.Rptr. 852, 647 P.2d 128 (1982). These states support adoption of the any-majority rule by observing that it is consistent with the policy that led to the abandonment of the unanimity rule. See Weeks, supra, at 431; Schabe, 103 A.D.2d at 423, 480 N.Y.S.2d 328 (“Nonunanimous verdicts decrease the number of mistrials and retrials and thus reduce court congestion, delay and the cost of maintaining the judicial system. They also reduce the number of unjust verdicts deriving from juror obstinacy or dishonesty and discourage compromise verdicts.“).
In reading the plain language, “[w]ords and phrases shall be construed according to rules of grammar and according to their common and approved usage,” while any words or phrases that have acquired a “peculiar and appropriate meaning” must be construed according to that meaning.
In accordance with this constitutional change, the legislature passed into law the current version of Section 5104(b), which provides that a verdict rendered by “at least five-sixths of the jury shall be the verdict of the jury.”
The Superior Court found that the “verdict” upon which five-sixths of the jurors must agree is comprised of the result of all interrogatory answers:
[T]he “verdict,” which answered “No” to the interrogatory asking whether contributory negligence was a factor and which awarded $51,300 in damages to [Appellant], was not the verdict of Jurors 4, 8, or 9[; as such, it was a] verdict of only nine of the twelve jurors, and thus was not a verdict at all.
Fritz, 872 A.2d at 852-53. The Superior Court, therefore, found that the verdict was the award of $51,300, which was agreed to by ten jurors, with jurors four and nine dissenting.
To understand why we respectfully disagree with the Superior Court‘s analysis, it is helpful to examine the difference between general verdicts and general verdicts with special findings, also known as general verdicts with special interrogatories. Generally, a verdict is the decision of a jury reported to the court on matters submitted to the jury at trial. Roth v. E. Connellsville Coke Co., 242 Pa. 23, 88 A. 781 (1913). In Pennsylvania, verdicts may be general, special, or general with special findings.7 See Fulforth v. Prudential Ins. Co. of Amer., 147 Pa.Super. 516, 24 A.2d 749, 753 (1942). A general verdict is a finding by the jury in terms of the issue or issues referred to them and is, either wholly or in part, for the plaintiff or for the defendant. Id. at 753; see also BLACK‘S LAW DICTIONARY (8th ed.2004) (defining general verdict as a verdict “by which the jury finds in favor of one party or the other“). Thus, when a trial judge requires only a general verdict slip, a jury will be call upon only to find “for plaintiff in the amount of ...” or “for defendant.” No other substance will appear on the general verdict slip.
In contrast, when the trial court exercises its discretion to employ a general verdict with special findings, such as occurred in this case, the analytical subparts of the
As we explained in Brown v. Ambridge Yellow Cab Co., 374 Pa. 208, 97 A.2d 377 at 381 (1953), when special findings are employed in connection with a general verdict, the jury‘s decision is the general verdict, not the answers to the individual interrogatories:
Taking the answers [to the interrogatories] as a whole one cannot say that they represent a mathematical exactness and factual certainty of such impeccability as to overturn the deliberate and solemn conclusion reached in the general verdict. It would appear that the jury, after due deliberations, reached its conclusions and then perfunctorily and hurriedly attempted to answer the voluminous interrogatories. Logic does not require, and there is no law which compels acceptance of the special findings here, shot through as they are with inconsistencies, vagueness and inconclusiveness, as against the general verdict, which with authority and definitiveness declares: “we, the Jurors ... find for the Plaintiff ... in the amount of $8000.00....”
Regardless of whether the jury is delivering a general verdict or general verdict with special findings, its deliberation will encompass all aspects of the case that are necessary to arrive at a decision. These aspects do not change depending on whether the jury is asked to discuss them orally before writing its general verdict or set forth the components of such discussion through answers to special interrogatories. See, e.g., Panek v. Scranton Ry. Co., 258 Pa. 589, 102 A. 274 (1917).
With a general verdict, as long as ten jurors agree with the finding and award as presented to the court, there can be no issue regarding whether the requisite five-sixths concurred. In this case, had the jury rendered a general verdict without special findings, it would have been for Appellant in the amount of $51,300. This would have been the result even though two jurors dissented on the issue of Appellant‘s contributory negligence. In fact, with a general verdict alone, it would not be known that two jurors had dissented on those issues because the litigants would not be entitled to inquire into the jury deliberation process.
However, the verdict in this case was not a general verdict, but a general verdict with special findings. If we were to accept Appellees’ position, and that of the Superior Court majority, the fortuitous fact that this verdict included special findings would permit counsel to delve into the otherwise sacrosanct jury deliberation process to ascertain disagreements among particular jurors or particular subparts of their discussions, whereas this would not be permitted if the verdict had been a general verdict without interrogatories. We see no reason to permit invading the sanctity of the jury deliberations in the case of special findings where such invasion would not be permitted in the case of a general verdict without
The analytical thicket arising when a jury of lay people are confronted with the components and subcomponents of negligence, contributory negligence, comparative negligence, and potential other legal theories have caused trial courts of this Commonwealth to utilize general verdicts with special findings, such as here. See, e.g., PENNSYLVANIA SUGGESTED STANDARD CIVIL JURY INSTRUCTION § 3.03A (providing for six interrogatories in a case of comparative negligence and apportionment among joint tortfeasors). These questions permit a jury unlearned in the law to frame and structure their deliberations, if they so choose.
In the instant case, after discussions and deliberations, the jury presumably moved on to answer the special questions. When doing so, they discovered that ten agreed that Appellant‘s contributory negligence was not a substantial factor in bringing about the harm, and a different ten agreed that the result should be in favor of Appellant in the amount of $51,300. This bottom-line finding for Appellant is the verdict, Brown, 97 A.2d at 381; the only difference resulting between employ of a general verdict and the general verdict with special findings used here is that now we can ascertain that two jurors dissented on the issues of Appellant‘s contributory negligence and the amount of damages.
This result is not only permissible, but required by the plain language of the Pennsylvania Constitution art. 1, section 6 and
Additionally, this decision is wholly consistent with and, indeed, is compelled by our decision in Blum, 534 Pa. 97, 626 A.2d 537. In Blum, we remanded the case for a new trial where it had originally been tried before a jury of eleven rather than of twelve due to a juror‘s illness on the day of trial. Although the eleven-member jury was unanimous in its result, we emphasized the constitutional dimension of preserving a twelve-member jury in which each member has the potential to voice a view that resists that of the majority and to sow sufficient doubt to prevent the formation of a five-sixths majority:
While it is true that under subsection 5104(b) five-sixths of the jury shall be the verdict of the jury and shall have the same effect as a unanimous verdict of the jury, this in no way means that a verdict may be reached by a jury consisting of less than the constitutionally mandated twelve person jury where a demand for such is properly made. It is a logical assumption that if twelve jurors had deliberated in this matter, the five-sixths verdict might never have been reached. Moreover, an entirely different verdict may have been arrived at. Obviously, this would depend upon the leadership and persuasive abilities of the one juror who did not participate in the deliberations.
Id. at 546-47.
If we were to adopt the same-juror rule, as the Superior Court did, we would violate the spirit of Blum by effectively disenfranchising the dissenting voters, denying them the opportunity to participate meaningfully in the decision of the subsequent material questions. This rule would contradict Blum by depriving litigants of their right to have twelve jurors fully participate in the entire deliberative process. The right to have a jury of twelve decide one‘s case means that the
The Superior Court acknowledged the disenfranchisement argument, but found it sufficient that jurors with dissenting views “may continue to express their disagreements throughout the deliberation process and seek to persuade others to their point of view.” Fritz, 872 A.2d at 853 n. 3. We disagree. A dissenter stripped of his or her voting power does not have the same voice as a qualified, voting juror. As the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court aptly noted in Schabe:
Under the [same-juror rule], the casting of a dissenting vote on any question reduces the dissenter‘s influence to a state of practical impotence and creates a mandate for continued unanimity among the other jurors on the remaining questions if the verdict is to survive. The dissenter is then bereft of real voting power, for his vote on the remaining questions can no longer affect the verdict
Schabe, 103 A.D.2d at 424, 480 N.Y.S.2d 328.9
We find further support for the any-majority rule in our system of bifurcated trials. In a bifurcated trial, the jury
Finally, we note that other jurisdictions have found that requiring the same five-sixths jurors to agree on every issue
The jury‘s verdict in this case was for Appellant in the amount of $51,300. When asked by the trial court if that was their verdict, ten out of twelve jurors agreed that it was. The fact that two jurors dissented on one of the preceding interrogatories, in effect disputing nothing more than the path the jury followed to reach the consensus, is irrelevant to the fact that ten jurors agreed on the final verdict. The order of the Superior Court is reversed.
Chief Justice CAPPY, and Justice CASTILLE, Justice NEWMAN, Justice EAKIN and Justice BALDWIN join the opinion.
Justice SAYLOR files a dissenting opinion.
I agree with the holding of the Superior Court majority that Article 1, Section 6 of the Pennsylvania Constitution and Section 5104(b) of the Judicial Code require that a valid civil verdict must be fully supported by at least ten of twelve jurors.
As the majority notes, historically, the Pennsylvania Constitution required jury verdicts to be unanimous. See Majority Opinion at 231-32, 907 A.2d at 1090. Under this scheme, there was obviously no room for an “any majority” rule. For example, indisputably all jurors had to agree as to liability and damages before a verdict could be rendered awarding money damages. In 1971, however, the Constitution was amended to authorize the General Assembly to provide that “a verdict may be rendered by not less than five-sixths of the jury in any civil case.”
The majority, however, reasons that this constitutional amendment was intended, not only to lower the threshold number of jurors in full agreement with a verdict, but also to implement the additional, substantial, and unstated innovation of skewing the character of the essential agreement, such that differing five-sixth majorities must be considered relative to component questions associated with an underlying verdict. None of the majority‘s justifications, however, persuades me that the amendatory language should be read in so broad a fashion.
First, the majority indicates that requiring the rendering of a verdict with which ten of twelve jurors are in full agreement “flouts the public‘s intent in amending the constitution and the General Assembly‘s clearly expressed intention that civil cases are to be decided by five-sixths of a twelve-member jury, not
Second, the majority reasons that the litigants’ right to a jury trial would be undermined if all jurors were not required to consider and decide each of the issues submitted to them by the court. See Majority Opinion at 237-38, 907 A.2d at 1093-94. The majority, however, offers no real support for the proposition that jurors must accede to the reasoning of a majority of others with respect to any aspect of their own rationale underlying a verdict. Rather, jurors have traditionally been permitted to dissent to a verdict for any legitimate reason, whether it is a belief that there is no liability or that there is no causally connected injury, or, conversely, an understanding that liability and damage exist in a case in which a majority of jurors favors a defense verdict. Further, juries as collective bodies routinely do not consider dependent issues where their decision on a predicate issue is dispositive; I find nothing in logic, in precedent, or, in particular, in the amendment to Article I, Section 6, that supports precluding a juror from doing the same within his or her own individualized assessment, assuming full and fair deliberation.
The majority‘s remaining rationale appears to advance policy considerations tending to favor the implementation of the “any majority” rule that does not require that at least ten jurors agree to all aspects of a verdict. While I do not dispute
First, the majority reasons that a requirement that at least ten of twelve jurors wholly agree with the jury verdict “effectively disenfranchises the dissenting voters,” denying them the opportunity to participate meaningfully in the decision of the subsequent material questions. See Majority Opinion at 238, 907 A.2d at 1094. From the perspective of an individual juror, however, it appears to me that one who believes that there is no liability is as (or more) likely to feel disenfranchised if he or she is forced to contribute a vote allocating damages than if permitted to rest on a determination of no liability.1 Additionally, the notion that such a juror has no ability to continue to participate meaningfully in the discussions during a damages assessment is conjectural, as it is based upon a fixed and conclusory set of assumptions about the dynamic process of juror deliberation. For example, as Appellee highlights, it gives no attention Pennsylvania law‘s allowance for the possibility of compromise verdicts. See Elza v. Chovan, 396 Pa. 112, 115, 152 A.2d 238, 240 (1959).2 Moreover, dependent
Next, the majority references difficulties presented by the technique of bifurcation of liability and damages questions. See Majority Opinion at 238-40, 907 A.2d at 1095. The Court, however, has treated bifurcation short of severance as merely allowing for a “pause in the proceeding,” in furtherance of prospects for settlements and cost savings. See Stevenson v. GMC, 513 Pa. 411, 420, 521 A.2d 413, 417-18 (1987). Findings in bifurcated proceedings are not final orders subject to appeal, and the trial court remains free to consider evidence adduced in the damages phase of a bifurcated trial in a post-trial assessment concerning liability. See id. at 420-22, 521 A.2d at 417-19.3 Similarly, there is nothing in the reasoning
Next, the majority suggests that requiring agreement among ten of twelve jurors increases the ability of counsel to intrude into juror deliberations. See Majority Opinion at 235, 907 A.2d at 1092 (“If we were to accept Appellees’ position, and that of the Superior Court majority, the fortuitous fact that this verdict included special findings would permit counsel to delve into the otherwise sacrosanct jury deliberation process to ascertain disagreements among particular jurors or particular subparts of their discussions, whereas this would not be permitted if the verdict had been a general verdict without interrogatories.“). However, I do not see why this is the case. In Pennsylvania, whether and to what extent a civil jury is polled is discretionary with the trial court, see In re Estate of Dettra, 415 Pa. 197, 205, 202 A.2d 827, 832 (1964), and post-trial inquiries into the propriety of jury verdicts are closely guarded by both competency-related evidentiary principles and ethical rules. See Pratt v. St. Christopher‘s Hosp., 581 Pa. 524, 535-36, 540, 866 A.2d 313, 319-20, 323 (2005). Moreover, I do not regard concerns about the possibility that an improper verdict might be discovered as bearing greatly on the question of what is required to comprise a proper verdict in the first instance.
Finally, the majority highlights various efficiencies that it believes flow from the “any majority” rule that it endorses and suggests that a contrary approach would threaten the use of special interrogatories. See Majority Opinion at 238-40 & n.
In this regard, I return to the theme that the weighing of these policies has been undertaken by the electorate and the General Assembly in Article 1, Section 6 and the enabling legislation, in which uncomplicated language was used to convey the idea that the number of jurors who must be in full agreement in a civil case was being reduced from twelve of twelve to ten of twelve. Again, this was, in and of itself, a substantial innovation furthering efficiency, and I differ with the majority‘s inference that further, substantial, and unstated innovations were intended by the simple and straightforward language that was presented to the electorate in accomplishing the amendment to Article 1, Section 6.
Notes
- Do you find [Appellees] were negligent?
- Was [Appellees‘] negligence a substantial factor in causing Appellant harm?
- Was [Appellant] contributorily negligent?
- Was [Appellant‘s] contributory negligence a substantial factor in bringing about his harm?
- Taking the combined negligence that was a substantial factor in bringing about [Appellant‘s] harm as 100 percent, what percentage of that causal negligence was attributable to [Appellees] and what percentage was attributable to [Appellant]?
- State the amount of damages, if any, sustained by [Appellant] as a result of the accident, without regard to and without reduction by the percentage of causal negligence, if any, that you have attributed to him. The Court will perform the mathematical reduction based on the figures the jury supplies in this Verdict Slip.
- State the amount of damages, if any, sustained by [] Darla Fritz.
Juarez, 183 Cal.Rptr. 852, 647 P.2d at 135-36 (Richardson, J., dissenting) (emphasis in original; citations omitted).Nor does the requirement of consistency between a juror‘s findings of negligence, proximate cause, and damages, on the one hand, and liability for those damages, on the other, necessarily require, as the majority suggests, that only those jurors initially finding each of the parties liable may deliberate upon the apportionment of that liability among them. While the logical progression would normally appear to be from findings of actionable negligence to apportionment of liability therefor, it is apparent that a juror may change her or his mind on one or more special verdicts at any time before the jury verdict is rendered. That factor alone would appear to refute the wisdom of imposing upon the deliberative process an artificial restriction barring each juror from fully considering and reconsidering each issue. As the majority implicitly acknowledges in its holding, a tentative vote is not cast in bronze; and so long as the ultimate product of a juror‘s deliberation is consistent, there is no reason to interfere with the process of “decisions and revisions which a minute [may] reverse.”
- The occasion and necessity for the statute.
- The circumstances under which it was enacted.
- The mischief to be remedied.
- The object to be attained.
- The former law, if any, including other statutes upon the same or similar subjects.
- The consequences of a particular interpretation.
- The contemporaneous legislative history.
- Legislative and administrative interpretations of such statute.
Id. at 545-46. As discussed herein, we believe a position, such as that advocated by the dissent, would specifically violate our holding in Blum requiring a twelve member jury because requiring five-sixths of the jury to vote unanimously on every component question posed to it would lead to requiring a unanimous verdict of ten. While the dissent states that the idea of a “jury of ten” is illusory as it facially fails to account for two jurors in our twelve juror system, its argument essentially amounts to saying that the right to stand outside the polling place and engage in protest, no matter how meaningful, equates to the right to vote. If the dissent‘s view carried the day, two jurors would loose such right to vote. It is this disenfranchisement of jurors that would represent an unwise and unwarranted “sea change” from the law‘s development from Blum to our decision today.The people of this Commonwealth, by constitutional amendment in 1971, altered the unanimity requirement by authorizing the General Assembly to provide by law that a verdict may be rendered by not less than five-sixths of the jury in any civil case. The General Assembly then promulgated the five-sixths verdict in subsection 5104(a) and (b) of the Judicial Code, 42 Pa.C.S. § 5104(a), (b). The unanimity feature, therefore, was changed.