What are the two fundamental decisions made by civil trial juries? How do jurors assess and determine damages?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answers may vary.In civil trials, juries typically make two decisions: first, whether the defendant (or, in some instances, the plaintiff) is liable, meaning responsible for the alleged harm, and second, whether the injured party (typically the plaintiff) should receive any money to compensate his or her losses, and if so, how much. These monies are called damages. For example, if a pedestrian is injured by a fast-moving bicyclist, jurors can be called on to decide whether the bicyclist was at fault and how much money the pedestrian should receive.One of the most perplexing issues related to juries is how they assess damages. This complex decision seems especially subjective and unpredictable because people value money and injuries differently and because jurors are given scant guidance on how to award damages. The awards for punitive damages-intended to punish the defendant and deter future malicious conduct-are of special concern because the jury receives little instruction about how those awards should be determined. Consider the staggering $145 billion punitive damage award against the tobacco industry in a case brought by many state attorney generals in 2000. Even the judge in the case was amazed. "A lot of zeros," he observed dryly, after reading the verdict.Factors jurors consider in their decisions about damages: Data from interviews with actual jurors, simulation studies, and videotapes of actual jury deliberations show that, as in criminal cases, jurors put most weight on the evidence they hear in court. But according to professors Shari Diamond and Neil Vidmar, discussions about insurance coverage and attorney's fees-issues that are theoretically irrelevant to decisions about the amount of damages-are also quite common in jury rooms. Reviewing the deliberations of juries in the landmark Arizona Jury Project, they found that conversations about insurance occurred in 85% of these cases and the topic of attorneys' fees came up in 83% of discussions. Other research has shown that, although jurors discuss these issues, the resulting awards are not directly influenced.