Pacheco v. Safeco Insurance Co. of America

I

One inescapable fact which does not appear in the majority opinion is that the verdict was not unanimous. Indeed, if there had been one less juror who would sign the verdict, there would have been no verdict. Nine signed, and nine is the bare requirement necessary to reach a verdict in Idaho civil law. The verdict was a special verdict consisting of a first question which called for a yes or no answer, “Did the Plaintiff Wilford Pacheco intentionally set the fire which caused his loss?” Only if the jury returned a “no” answer did it have any further questions to answer.

At the conclusion of…