Q: If I think the jury was prejudice in a civil trial, can I appeal it?
Our landlord never fixed anything in the building we were renting for our business and we couldn't open. Back at Covid, he told us not to worry about rent "until we were up and going". The roof was leaking and ruining the carpet with mold and the AC/heat never worked. We ran a sports lounge and people don't want to come in and drink beer and visit if it's 95 inside in the summer and 47 inside in the winter. We went to a court in the county and I feel some of the jurors new the defendant since he grew up here. There was 4 days of evidence and the jury made their decidion in 30 minutes. We also heard some jurors complaining after about not being able to voice their opinions or ask questions. We ended up having to pay him 20,000 in back rent and they didn't find him guilty of breach of contract by not fixing anything.
A: First, I am not a North Carolina lawyer. But if you think the civil jury was prejudiced, you possibly could appeal that ONLY IF you or your trial counsel made an objection to the makeup or composition of the jury AND the trial judge overruled that objection. The appeal process is usually focused on what the trial judge did or did not do, not whether a party feels the jury trial was unfair. You need more than that.
A:
Juror complaints can hint at something bad, but they can also just be complaints. But it is absolutely crucial to file for appeal before the deadline passes, as failure to meet an appeal deadline is considered a complete waiver of the right to appeal later.
[As a side note, generally speaking, commercial leases are very different from residential leases in terms of who is responsible for what repairs or upkeep, what constitutes breach, whether a tenant is entitled to rent "abatement," etc.]
With that being said, it would be impossible for an attorney to thoroughly evaluate the likelihood of winning an appeal based solely on information provided here, as a truly thorough evaluation involves reviewing the entire court record.
If you haven't done so already, you should consider speaking with a North Carolina attorney as soon as possible.
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