Hasson V. Ford Motor Co‪.‬

Defendant appealed from a substantial jury verdict awarded against it in this product liability action; plaintiffs cross-appealed from the trial court's reduction of the compensatory portion of the award. The Court of Appeal overturned the judgment in its entirety and ordered a new trial on the sole ground of juror misconduct. We granted a hearing primarily to clarify (1) under what circumstances juror inattentiveness during trial proceedings will constitute misconduct requiring a new trial, and (2) what type of evidence may be introduced to establish or rebut claims of juror misconduct. Because the Court of Appeal resolved the juror misconduct issue, albeit incorrectly, it did not reach defendant's remaining assertions of error. As will appear, we conclude that none of defendant's contentions has merit.