heard no evil —

New filing: Apple knew almost nothing about jury foreman in Samsung case

Samsung's allegations of juror misconduct look increasingly weak.

There have been many, many post-trial machinations following this summer's $1.05 billion patent infringement verdict in Apple v. Samsung. But the most provocative is surely Samsung's theory that the jury pool was tainted because the jury foreman did not disclose essential information about his past.

Samsung has argued the foreman, Velvin Hogan, withheld key facts—including that he was sued by Seagate Technology. That company is Hogan's former employer and it is now partly owned by Samsung. Hogan also didn't disclose that he filed for bankruptcy in connection with that litigation. In post-trial interviews, jurors said he described his own participation in the patent process during their deliberations. Hogan himself is a patent owner.

The company also insisted that Apple disclose what it knew about Hogan and when it knew it. "In order to have a full and fair opportunity to reply to Apple’s 'waiver' argument, Samsung is entitled to know when Apple first learned of Mr. Hogan’s undisclosed Seagate litigation, including whether it knew of Mr. Hogan’s misstatements to the Court prior to Samsung’s post-trial motion and nonetheless concealed that knowledge from the Court," wrote Samsung lawyers on October 30.

In papers filed late Friday, Apple finally disclosed to the court what it knew about Hogan: which is to say, almost nothing. After jury selection took place on July 30, Apple lawyers "became aware" that Hogan had filed for bankruptcy through a public records search, but they never even pulled the bankruptcy court file. And not a single member of Apple's in-house litigation team or outside counsel even knew about Hogan's lawsuit with Seagate until Samsung brought it up in post-trial briefs.

Overall, it's one more thing making Samsung's allegations about the jury foreman look pretty weak. The lawyers may have hoped that Apple knew something and didn't disclose it, but that now looks like a pipe dream seen through the distorted lens of a major trial loss.

The next major step in post-trial action is a hearing scheduled for December 6.

Channel Ars Technica