Court Notebook: Judge finds jury misconduct, paraplegic will get new trial

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Sheila Matthews, in a gurney wheelchair, is wheeled out by a nursing assistant as her lawyer Nancy Lavista looks on after opening statements at the Collier County Courthouse on August 13, 2009. Matthews, 59, is suing Naples Community Healthcare System and several doctors alleging medical negligence after a spinal epidural abscess was not quickly diagnosed and led to her partial paralysis.

An East Naples woman who lost a lawsuit that claimed doctors’ negligence caused her to become paralyzed will get a new trial after a judge determined the verdict was tainted by juror misconduct.

Collier Circuit Judge Cynthia Pivacek made the ruling last week in the case of Sheila Matthews, 59, who had lost her medical malpractice lawsuit against radiologist Daniel Singer, neurologist Michael Vickers and internist Sunil Pandya. On Sept. 1, after a roughly two-week trial, a circuit jury found them not negligent.

Matthews’ attorney, Nancy La Vista of West Palm Beach, sought the hearing after Pivacek sent her and defense attorneys Richard Mangan, Bob Cousins and Peter Restani a letter on Sept. 9 that informed them of possible misconduct.

Pivacek wrote that her bailiff had been contacted by a juror who reported that while leaving the courthouse, another juror told two jurors he’d read articles about the case, had done his own research and knew one of the defendants had settled.

The three jurors testified at a hearing on Nov. 9 and Pivacek threw out the verdict, granting a new trial.

“It concerns me that the jury process failed as it is the foundation of our justice system,” La Vista said last week. “Not only does it affect the verdict, but lawsuits are very stressful to both sides, are very expensive and the courts have limited resources, so this juror’s misconduct is a selfish act that cost time, money, resources, and emotional trauma to both sides.”

La Vista, who expects the defense to appeal, already planned an appeal involving other issues that came up at trial.

Matthews’ 2007 lawsuit and testimony showed that Matthews, a retired nurse who suffered from diabetes and bipolar disorder, called 911 on March 29, 2005, complaining of shortness of breath and excruciating back pain.

She was able to walk out of her home into an ambulance, but testified that the doctors, who were not hospital employees, didn’t consider her condition an emergency. Testimony showed she deteriorated for six days, at times screaming in pain, until April 1, 2005, when she was unable to walk.

Two days later, when doctors realized the situation, Dr. Paul Dernbach, who was not sued, performed emergency surgery at NCH Downtown Naples Hospital and helped her regain some arm motion and feeling in two toes. She was released April 21, 2005, and suffers from quadriparesis, meaning she has some motion. She lives at Manor Care at Lely Palms.

Shortly before trial, Naples Community Health Care System, which does business as NCH North Naples Hospital and NCH Downtown Naples Hospital, settled and filed notice of its settlement the day jury selection began.

The Daily News reported the hospital settled for a confidential amount. The settlement could not be brought up at trial and jurors were repeatedly warned not to read the newspaper and were questioned daily about whether they had. They swore they had not.

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