Judge to talk with juror in Maya case
Motion alleges potential misconduct during trial
A Sarasota judge is set to interview a juror Wednesday afternoon in the “Take Care of Maya” case after granting a defense motion by Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital based on allegations of potential juror misconduct that tainted the verdict.
Judge Hunter Carroll, who has been the presiding judge on the case since May 2021, granted a motion to conduct a limited interview of Juror No. 1, the foreperson, less than a week after hearing arguments about the motion on Dec. 15.
The hospital's attorneys claim that the juror deliberately ignored Carroll's instructions to not discuss the case with any person during the trial, to not consider any evidence outside of what was presented in court and to not to form any opinions about the case before deliberations.
The motion alleging potential juror misconduct was filed after a six-person jury awarded Maya Kowalski and her family more than $261 million and found the hospital liable for battery, fraudulent billing, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and two claims of extreme and outrageous actions towards Maya and Beata Kowalski, which led to Beata taking her life.
The family sued Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in 2018 for $220 million more than a year after wife and mother, Beata Kowalski, took her life after child abuse allegations arose against her and a Florida Department of Children and Families investigation led to then-10-year-old Maya Kowalski being separated from her family.
The defense argues that the verdict was “tainted” by communications between Juror No. 1, Paul Lengyel, and his wife, Yolanda, during the trial, depriving All Children's Hospital from a fair trial before an impartial jury.
“The evidence reveals a shocking level of involvement in the case and palpable bias in favor of the Plaintiffs on the part of Juror #1's wife, Mrs. Lengyel, as well as social media posts sharing ‘inside' information Mrs. Lengyel could only have obtained from her husband,” the motion stated.
Carroll heard arguments on the issue Dec. 15 during a three-hour hearing regarding several motions filed by the hospital.
A hospital attorney, Ethen Shapiro, said in a statement to the Herald-Tribune at the time that the motions demonstrated factors that contributed to an “unjust verdict,” with clear errors made during the trial, conduct by the Kowalski's attorney which misled the jury, and misconduct by the jury foreperson.
Greg Anderson, the Kowalski's attorney, had said at the time that he would be surprised if Carroll granted the defense's motions.
While Carroll's order grants a limited interview with the juror, he didn't think it was necessary to interview Yolanda Lengyel.
“Regardless, there were no Court instructions that restrained any juror's family member from watching the trial or publicly expressing their view about the case,” the order reads.
The order states case law prohibits any questions regarding the verdict, specifically the juror's thought process about the evidence and discussions they may have had with fellow jurors during deliberations, and Carroll said he will not ask the juror questions regarding his handwriting of the letter “S” in Sally Smith's name within a jury question that was submitted on Oct. 12.
The defense claimed the “S” used to write Smith's name was written in such a way that it was “identical to the symbol of the Nazi Schutzstaffel” while every other “S” was more curved.
Carroll said in the order that the defense did not raise this concern during trial despite having all physical copies of juror questions and that the supplemental motion was filed outside the 15-day window permitted to file such motions.
Carroll limited the questions to four topics: Whether Lengyel received or shared information about the trial with outside sources, including his wife; whether he conducted his own investigations into the case; his knowledge of Debra Salisbury, who was at one point an attorney for the Kowalski family; and whether he had an undisclosed opinion about the Florida Department of Children and Families and to what extent the two were connected through a domestic violence case against Lengyel in 2002.
The defense for the hospital filed another motion on Dec. 29 to expand the scope of the questions to Lengyel after they discovered a note that they claim his wife handed to jurors and alternative jurors after the trial.
The note included Jack Kowalski's contact information, her contact information, a list of YouTube commentators who followed the trial, and the contact information for one of the Kowalskis' attorneys, Nick Whitney. The note, according to a photo attached to the motion, also contained a warning from Whitney to “be careful what is said to media” as the case is on appeal.
Gabriela Szymanowska covers the legal system for the Herald-Tribune in partnership with Report for America. You can support her work with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America. Contact Gabriela Szymanowska at gszymanowska@gannett.com, or on Twitter.