Jurors "butted heads" in the damages retrial that ended up awarding Apple some US$290 million out of the $380 million Apple had asked for. Bloomberg interviewed jury members, and they credited one key witness for helping them decide on that amount.
That witness was Julie L. Davis, a certified public accountant based in Chicago, who testified as an expert witness on behalf of Apple. Foreman Colleen Allen told Bloomberg that, "Mrs. Davis was on it," and that she was a, "superstar witness [who remained steady] even when she was cross-examined."
TMO's Bad Reenactment of Apple's Jury
Many high-stakes court battles come down to expert witnesses on both sides, and in this case Apple appears to have had the better witness(es). In particular, this came down to $230 million in Samsung profits that both parties had agreed (as part of the original trial) were directly attributable to Samsung's infringement.
Samsung wanted $178 million of that amount discounted for one reason or another, but Julie L. Davis—Apple's expert witness—testified that none of it should come out. This was what the jurors butted heads on, but in the end, they decided to split the difference and cut it in half, and apparently Mrs. Davis's testimony was key in reaching that compromise.
“For most of us it was Julie Davis,” juror Barry Goldman-Hall told Bloomberg. “She offered us a lot of information” to determine how much of the $178 million and what royalties should be awarded to Apple."
The article also noted that Samsung tried to block Mr. Goldman-Hall from being seated on the jury after he disclosed during the selection process that he had a cousin who worked for Samsung, but left the company, "under bad circumstances." Judge Koh found Mr. Goldman-Hall's promise to be fair compelling enough to rule against Samsung's efforts to have him removed.
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