By AOJ – AKA Johnson Juror #4
Unexpected emotions took a few minutes to hit me after I heard the news that the Hardeman jury had reached a verdict in favor of the plaintiff. I am sure we, the Johnson jury, got that verdict right. But that does not mitigate the worry that we were a one-off. These six jurors have not only found for their plaintiff, but have supported the Johnson jury in a way that, well, brought tears to my eyes this afternoon. They had our back.
At times I have hesitated to express my emotions about any of this. The reason for this is that the Johnson jury was accused by Monsanto of having been “inflamed” by certain aspects of that trial. After I wrote to our judge (and four other jurors followed suit) I was accused again, this time by Val Giddings, a Monsanto PR flak, in a Courthouse News Service article: “I have never heard of jurors after the fact picking a fight with the judge over judicial rulings.That’s not something that typically happens in the absence of impassioned sentiments on a topic in a case, which is something that is not consistent with dispassion in a juror.”
My response to that attack was simple: Mr. Giddings, please show me the independent peer-reviewed studies that show, with statistically significant data, that the emotional state of mind of a human at any time can be determined from his or her emotional state of mind two months later.
Monsanto, you have a problem. It’s called Chronic Jury Inflammation. And Dr. AOJ thinks it’s terminal.
SOME LESS ENGAGING NOTES FROM GG:
As you all know, I waited day in and out to witness the reading of the Ed Hardeman v Monsanto verdict. This afternoon, feeling sleepy and bored, I went down to the cafeteria for some caffeine. I sat for a few minutes, and returned upstairs.
In those very few moments, the verdict was read. AGGGGGHHHH!!!
The good news is that several other journalists and Plaintiff Attorney Jennifer Moore caught me all up – so this is what I know.
First, congratulations to Jennifer Moore and Aimee Wagstaff on their outstanding win!! It gives me particular pride that two women brought home the thrilling victory.
From what I gathered from observers, the verdict reading was considerably less dramatic than that of the Johnson trial, perhaps because this is just Phase 1. In a quick and orderly fashion, Chhabria read the verdict form:
Question 1: Did Mr. Hardeman prove by a preponderance of the evidence that his exposure to Roundup was a substantial factor in causing his non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma?
Answer: Yes
One of the Plaintiff attorneys let out a little expression of glee, and the Plaintiff team all hugged. And then everyone left the courtroom.
I shouldn’t have said, “just Phase 1,” because this Phase 1 verdict is an enormous deal. I have been bemoaning the bifurcated trial for weeks. The juicy evidence of Monsanto’s corruption was pushed by Chhabria to Phase 2, thus leaving Phase 1 nearly entirely focused on the scientific evidence of whether Roundup is carcinogenic. This trial design, so carefully executed by Judge Chhabria, has proven that even without the “champagne” and “California zombies” comments, the science speaks for itself. Roundup is a terrifyingly carcinogenic chemical that people are spraying and eating every single day.
Monsanto/Bayer has a serious problem now. As I have said before, the Bayer legal team in this Hardeman trial – well, you just aren’t going to find stronger attorneys. They have executed their role as best they can, particularly given the cruddy science that they had to defend.
Agent OJ is covering the Opening Statements tomorrow – let’s get em!!
©️2019 Robert Howard
© 2019 Kelly Ryerson ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
