The 600 Leflore County citizens called to jury duty Friday have been excused from service because a malpractice lawsuit against Pemberton Manor nursing home has been settled.
The agreement in Circuit Court came just two days before attorneys on both sides were scheduled to sort through the potential jurors at the Leflore County Civic Center.
The terms of the settlement and the amount to be paid to plaintiff Elnora Johnson, who lives at the nursing home, are unknown.
"We're satisfied that the case was resolved in a satisfactory fashion," said Ben Lazzara, a plaintiff's attorney with the Wilkes & McHugh law firm.
Representatives of the nursing home could not be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon or this morning.
A jury awarded Johnson, whose family claimed she was mistreated during her stay at Pemberton Manor, $7 million in the original verdict reached last November. It was the largest civil award in Leflore County history.
But the decision was overturned in April when Circuit Judge Betty Sanders determined that the foreman of the jury failed to properly disclose that his mother had once lived at Pemberton Manor.
The case was scheduled to go back to trial Monday. The court summoned 600 people for the jury selection, which was to take place Friday at the Leflore County Civic Center. Sanders expected only about a third of those called to show up, but she said the case needed at least that many to ensure an untainted jury after the mistrial and the press coverage it attracted.
Wilkes & McHugh has offices all over the country. In Mississippi, the law firm is based in Hattiesburg.
