Rule 69.025.Juror Nondisclosure [Effective April 1, 2021].

Rule 69.025 addresses what happens when a prospective juror doesn't disclose a past involvement in litigation. A party who wants to ask about a potential juror's litigation history must record the proposed initial questions before voir dire begins — skipping that step waives the right to ask about litigation history at all. The rule then defines a reasonable investigation for these purposes as reviewing Case.net before the jury is sworn, and it requires the court to give every party the chance to conduct that investigation.

If a party has reasonable grounds to believe a prospective juror failed to disclose a litigation history, the party must tell the court before the jury is sworn, and the court then questions the juror or jurors outside the presence of the rest of the panel. A party who wants post-trial relief based on juror nondisclosure carries the burden of showing compliance with these investigation and disclosure steps, which can be shown by affidavit, and the court holds an evidentiary hearing to decide whether relief is warranted.

The rule exists in two versions, with the version effective April 1, 2021 revising the waiver standard in paragraph (e). The earlier version described waiver in terms of failing to do "either" of two things — conducting a reasonable investigation or informing the court of reasonable grounds. The 2021 version rephrases this as a conjunctive requirement: a party waives the right to relief for nondisclosure of information that would be readily apparent from a reasonable investigation unless the party both conducts that investigation and informs the court of the basis for believing nondisclosure occurred, all before the jury is sworn.