The Jerry Baldwin Saga: 1998-2020

[NewsCopy]

  The ball is back in Jerry Baldwin's court.

The 1st Circuit Court of Appeal in Baton Rouge vacated a $2 million judgment against the UL Board of Supervisors and former Ragin' Cajun athletic director Nelson Schexnayder. That judgment came after a jury found that Baldwin, a former head football coach at UL, was terminated, in part, because of racial discrimination.

The appeals court remanded the case for a new trial. Baldwin also could appeal the ruling further to the state Supreme Court. Efforts to reach Karl Benard, lead counsel for Baldwin, as well as attorneys representing UL, were unsuccessful.

The rest of the story

Brady Aymond • baymond@theadvertiser.com • July 2, 2009

[AstroCajun]

_ It does appear that the jurors had lots of inconsistencies in the way they answered questions. That makes me think the university's lawyers could have done a better job in screening jurors. I do understand that the judge allowed one juror to remain after the university questioned her ability to be fair. As far as the judge is concerned, his record is not stellar either as evidenced by the info in this post from the Scout board.

http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=345&f=3397&t=4470094 _

Have you ever picked a jury?

You're trying to predict the future behavior of strangers as a group based on their present behavior in a jury box for the few minutes you have to talk to them.

In most courts you don't get anything by way of backrground until the jurors fill out the questionnaire the morning of jury selection.

The best you can do is try to get rid of those witnesses you KNOW will vote against you. They tried that, and inexplicably, that juror with the pending discrimination case should have never been seated.

Once she was, the whole case was a farce.

On the other hand, the Judge knew that the case was going to get reviewed by the Court of Appeal regardless of what the Jury did.

Before you bash the Judge, remember, he was the one who threw the case out on Summary Judgment in the first place.

[CajunT]

_ The reversal is a monumental setback to the National Association of TOOTH-PICKERS!!

Awwwwwww, Jawee and Karl .... your'e screwed now! The MOMENTUM has shifted ...as it RIGHTFULLY should have! _

The National Tooth-Pick Society has just filed a legal brief with the State Supreme Court, declaring your post as hate speech!LOL!!!!

[4LSU]

_ Have you ever picked a jury?

You're trying to predict the future behavior of strangers as a group based on their present behavior in a jury box for the few minutes you have to talk to them.

In most courts you don't get anything by way of backrground until the jurors fill out the questionnaire the morning of jury selection.

The best you can do is try to get rid of those witnesses you KNOW will vote against you. They tried that, and inexplicably, that juror with the pending discrimination case should have never been seated.

Once she was, the whole case was a farce.

On the other hand, the Judge knew that the case was going to get reviewed by the Court of Appeal regardless of what the Jury did.

Before you bash the Judge, remember, he was the one who threw the case out on Summary Judgment in the first place. _

From my limited experience with jury trials, I hope and pray my fate is never in their hands. I know it's the best system available, but expecting some people to leave a possible bias at the court house door is a reach at best. imo

I thought the defense had a certain # of jurors they could excuse from the pool without too much trouble. If that was attempted and it was pointed out to the judge that this juror had a "pending discrimination case" and he nevertheless sat her over objections...he needs not only to be bashed, but sanctioned. imo

[cajunhawk]

_ From my limited experience with jury trials, I hope and pray my fate is never in their hands. I know it's the best system available, but expecting some people to leave a possible bias at the court house door is a reach at best. imo

I thought the defense had a certain # of jurors they could excuse from the pool without too much trouble. If that was attempted and it was pointed out to the judge that this juror had a "pending discrimination case" and he nevertheless sat her over objections...he needs not only to be bashed, but sanctioned. imo _

But isnt that what the appeal courts are all about, to protect from unjust bias from jurors or judges, to take an abstract look at a case and make a judgment on whether the court case was fair or not. we need bias in our courts, because it keeps the judicial system honest. Because after all its run by humans just like all of us. You want people to have an opinion, you want people to care. If everybody just fell in line this whole existence would be kinda pointless.

[GetTheFacts1st]

_ The National Tooth-Pick Society has just filed a legal brief with the State Supreme Court, declaring your post as hate speech!LOL!!!! _

I do not know why they would do that......they look down on losers who use their product, just as (I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they) do!

[Damon]

EDSBS Blog Post

Best part of the post:

Reading between the lines, the main reason for the overturn seems to be that the trial happened in Louisiana, and went about as well as most Louisiana jury trials go: disastrously for Teams Logic and Fairness. Pay attention and laugh along, Category 5:

The appeals court also found Johnson wrongly granted “expert witness” status to a man who testified about how being fired might make it difficult for Baldwin to obtain another coaching job.
The appeals judge ruled that the man offered only a personal view unsupported by any “indicia of reliability.”

In addition to our lifelong dream of being convicted for practicing law without a license, we now have a new one: being an expert witness on something in a trial without having any expertise in the subject whatsoever.

[Cajunsmike]

_ Have you ever picked a jury?

You're trying to predict the future behavior of strangers as a group based on their present behavior in a jury box for the few minutes you have to talk to them.

In most courts you don't get anything by way of backrground until the jurors fill out the questionnaire the morning of jury selection.

The best you can do is try to get rid of those witnesses you KNOW will vote against you. They tried that, and inexplicably, that juror with the pending discrimination case should have never been seated.

Once she was, the whole case was a farce.

On the other hand, the Judge knew that the case was going to get reviewed by the Court of Appeal regardless of what the Jury did.

Before you bash the Judge, remember, he was the one who threw the case out on Summary Judgment in the first place. _

I have never picked a jury although I have been considered for a couple and saw a little of the process. I admit I may have been too harsh on the legal team as I am not really qualified to judge their performance. As far as the judge is concerned, I saw some research on his history generated by an acquaintance. Let's just say his record is not reflective of someone who is a model citizen.

On a more positive front, Astros have a chance of being only one game under 0.500 by the end of the day. A 2nd half run similar to last year is possible. This from a club that most prognosticators said would be one of the worst in MLB.

[NewsCopy]

  UL - University of Louisiana is very pleased with a unanimous decision of the Court of Appeal to throw out the judgment in the Jerry Baldwin case. The university denied former Head Football Coach Jerry Baldwin's allegations that he was fired because of race.

UL has a long history of leadership in bringing about diversity throughout the campus, including collegiate athletics. UL was the first historically white university in Louisiana to integrate its athletics program and the first in Division IA in Louisiana to hire a black Head Football Coach.

This Court of Appeal ruling clears the way for a new trial. The university is confident that the courts will rule in its favor in any future proceedings.

Jerry Baldwin's record during his three years as Head Football Coach of Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns was 6 wins and 27 losses.

[NewsCopy]

Credit Louisiana’s 1st Circuit Court of Appeal in Baton Rouge with a rarity – a legal judgment in the sports world that makes sense. Now, if common sense prevails in whatever forum former UL football coach Jerry Baldwin now takes his discrimination case, the state and the university stands to be cleansed of one of its uglier legal chapters. On Wednesday, the circuit court threw out a $2 million judgment that a 19th Judicial District Court jury – one that proved its ignorance of the workings of collegiate athletics – had awarded Baldwin in 2007. In that case, Baldwin claimed racial discrimination by the university, the UL Board of Supervisors and former athletic director Nelson Schexnayder for his firing after the Ragin’ Cajuns’ 2001 season. At the trial, Baldwin claimed breach of contract, discrimination and emotional distress, and the racially-balanced jury – six white, six black – voted 10-2 to award Baldwin $500,000 for general damages and emotional distress, $600,000 for lost wages and $900,000 for future lost wages. The rest of the story Dan McDonald