Attorney blames news reports for unfavorable verdict in whisnant trial

Jefferson County, Texas - During February and March, the jury in a six-week asbestos trial listened to plaintiff claims that Willis Whisnant had developed mesothelioma as a result of negligence on the part of contractual employer DuPont. The jury decided in favor of the defendant. Now, the plaintiff’s attorney, Glen Morgan, is asking that the verdict be set aside and a new trial granted. The case was filed by Caryl Richardson representing the estate of Willis Whisnant, who died in 1999 at 72, after being diagnosed with mesothelioma. During the trial, the jury heard that Whisnant had been a B.F. Shaw pipefitter in 1966 and had been contracted to work at DuPont. The plaintiff attorney argued that Whisnant had negligently and maliciously been exposed to asbestos. However, on March 25 the jury returned their verdict, which effectively found that DuPont was not guilty of negligence. Plaintiff attorney Glen Morgan has now filed a Plaintiff’s Motion for a New Trial, stating that the jury’s decision was “contrary to the overwhelming weight and preponderance of the evidence.” The motion-which runs to sixteen pages-argued that during the trial, uncontroverted witness testimony established that the working conditions Whisnant was exposed to at DuPont posed an unreasonable risk of harm, and that DuPont had admitted knowledge of the danger. The motion says that DuPont cannot dispute that it failed to exercise “ordinary care” in Whisnant’s case. The motion also accuses local publication “The Southeast Texas Record” of publishing material that caused undue influence over the jury. “When one considers the overwhelming evidence of DuPont’s negligence in the above captioned case, it becomes clear that someone or something outside the courtroom must have influenced the jury’s verdict.” “In this case, the outside influence was almost certainly the Southeast Texas Record. The Southeast Texas Record is a local ‘newspaper’ that is owned by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.” “The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has identified one of its top goals is to end what it perceives to be lawsuit abuse and unfair litigation. In order to accomplish this goal, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has instituted what it calls a multifaceted and multipronged attack…One prong of this attack is the creation of ‘newspapers’ to disseminate anti-plaintiff propaganda in areas of the country that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce believes are favorable venues for plaintiffs, including…Southeast Texas.” Morgan claims that the Southeast Texas Record published several different reports on the Whisnant case that were clearly favorable to DuPont. The motion further alleges that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce was “clearly attempting to influence jurors” by making the paper freely available at the courthouse. The specific instance that Morgan cites is an incident in which the Southeast Texas Record described evidence that presiding Judge Floyd had ruled was not admissible. Morgan argued that any juror reading that article would have learned information that had been excluded from the trial, and may have been unduly influenced to decide in favor of DuPont as a result. The motion will be heard in Judge Floyd’s court on May 16. (Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News)