Court Grants Merck Probe Into Plaintiff's Loans to Juror

The AP reports:

A judge Friday granted Merck & Co. attorneys access to bank and cell phone records that could show the extent of a juror's financial relationship with a plaintiff who won a $32 million verdict in the death of a man who took the painkiller Vioxx.


Juror Jose Manuel Rios, who earns $22,000 a year as a school janitor, testified in a post-trial deposition to borrowing up to $10,000 interest-free from widow Felicia Garza, the plaintiff in the lawsuit against Merck. He said the loans included $2,500 that was paid off just weeks before jury selection in the case.

He and other jurors in April found Merck liable for 71-year-old Leonel Garza's fatal heart attack.

Can you say corruption?