Laura A. Newman, LLC D/b/a Herb's and Herb's Jazz & Blues v. T. Lawton Roberts — Gabriel, J., Dissenting

Summary

Justice Gabriel dissented from the majority's rejection of automatic reversal when a civil litigant is deprived of authorized peremptory challenges. He would treat the right to exercise peremptory challenges as a substantial right under C.R.C.P. 61 because impairing that right can undermine the basic fairness of jury selection even without proof that a biased juror was seated or that the error affected the verdict. He also maintained that the controlling precedent requiring automatic reversal should not have been abandoned.