AP: Judge says Sunday Ticket jury failed to follow his instructions

On Wednesday, the presiding judge in the Sunday Ticket antitrust trial heard arguments about the NFL’s bid to overturn a $4.7 billion judgment. An article by Joe Reedy of the Associated Press includes a surprising statement about what the presiding judge said.

According to the article, Judge Philip Gutierrez said the jury he did not follow his instructions when determining the amount of compensation.

If Gutierrez comes to this conclusion, the verdict could be clear. serious danger. The judge could reduce the damages to $1. Or he could order a new trial in the case.

But here’s one caveat I’ll apply to the AP article. There’s no direct quote from Gutierrez. And the full transcript of the hearing might paint a slightly different picture.

This is based on experience. From the same case. From the same source. AP article on Gutierrez’s concerns about the plaintiffs’ case, as presented in court on June 18, were undermined by the full text of the transcript. Yes, Gutierrez expressed concerns about the plaintiffs’ case. After the plaintiffs’ attorney explained the case, the court seemed to back down.

So with all due respect to Reedy, the AP, and anyone else at the hearing, we will get the transcript from today and read it in its entirety. It is entirely possible that Gutierrez said exactly what he said, with nothing else said during the hearing to mitigate it. It is also possible that the full context of the remarks paints a different picture.

That said, if Judge Gutierrez finds that the jury did not follow instructions, which is his conclusion, then the plaintiffs have a very serious problem.