Texas Juror Took Loans From Plaintiff in Vioxx Case

Article today on law.com -- Texas Juror Took Loans From Plaintiff in Vioxx Case, by Lynn Brezosky:   

    Attorneys for Merck & Co. want to see 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 against the drug company in the death of a 71-year-old man
    who took Vioxx.

     Jose Manuel Rios, a $22,000-a-year school janitor who served on the panel that
    found Merck liable for Leonel Garza's fatal heart attack after taking the painkiller
    Vioxx, testified in a post-trial deposition to borrowing up to $10,000 interest free
    from Garza's widow, Felicia, the plaintiff in the lawsuit against Merck. He said the
    loans included $2,500 that was paid off just weeks before he was selected as a juror
    in the case.