New Trial Order Predicated on Juror Misconduct Allegations Undone in Nissan Products Liability Case 

A panel of justices from the First Court of Appeals in Houston has determined that allegations of juror misconduct in a products liability trial against Nissan did not mandate a new trial, as a Harris County district judge had found. 

A jury had sided with Nissan in March, issuing a take-nothing verdict in the lawsuit brought by Deana A. Rios following the April 2022 death of her husband. In a 46-page opinion issued Thursday and authored by Chief Justice Terry Adams, the panel held Harris County District Judge Fredericka Phillips had abused her discretion by granting Rios a new trial, in part by relying on inadmissible testimony from some of the jurors about deliberations in the case.