The Runaway Jury

The Runaway Jury is a legal thriller novel written by American author John Grisham. It was Grisham's seventh novel. The hardcover first edition was published by Doubleday Books in 1996 (ISBN 0-385-47294-3). Pearson Longman released the graded reader edition in 2001 (ISBN 0-582-43405-X). The novel was published again in 2003 to coincide with the release of Runaway Jury, a movie adaptation of the novel starring Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, John Cusack and Rachel Weisz. The third printing (ISBN 0-440-22147-1) bears a movie-themed cover, in place of the covers used on the first and second printings.

Plot summary

Every jury has a leader, and the verdict belongs to him.

Wendall Rohr and a legal team of successful tort lawyers have filed suit on behalf of plaintiff Celeste Wood, whose husband died of lung cancer. The trial is to be held in Biloxi, Mississippi, a state thought to have favorable tort laws and sympathetic juries. The defendant is Pynex, a tobacco company.

Even before the jury has been sworn in, a stealth juror, Nicholas Easter, has begun to quietly connive behind the scenes, in concert with a mysterious woman known only as Marlee.

Rankin Fitch, a shady "consultant" who has directed eight successful trials for the tobacco industry, has placed a camera in the courtroom in order to observe the proceedings in his office nearby. He has begun to plot many schemes to reach to the jury. He planned to get to Millie Dupree through blackmailing her husband through a tape that has him trying to bribe an official. He reaches to Lonnie Shaver through convincing a company to buy his employer and convince him through orientation. He also tries to reach Rikki Coleman through a blackmail of revealing her abortion to her husband. As the case continues, Fitch is approached by Marlee with a proposal to "buy" the verdict.

However, as Fitch investigates Marlee's past, he discovers that her parents have been killed by smoking and that Marlee was actually planning against the defense. However, he has already sent the $10 million, so he lost $10 million in addition to having lost the trial.

Easter becomes jury foreman after the previous one falls ill (resulting from Nicholas spiking his coffee) and convinces them to find for the plaintiff and make a large monetary award – $2 million for compensatory damages, and $400 million for punitive measures. The defense lawyers and their employers are devastated.

While Easter and Marlee are now rich through short-selling the tobacco companies' stocks and satisfied that they served justice, Fitch realizes that his reputation has been destroyed and that the tobacco companies, once undefeatable, are now vulnerable to lawsuits.

The book closes with Marlee returning the initial $10 million bribe to Fitch, having used it to make several times that much, and warning Fitch that she and Nicholas will always be watching. She explains that she had no intention to steal or lie, and that she cheated only because "That was all your client understood."

List of major characters

Wendall Rohr: A successful tort lawyer who sues big corporations. He tried the case in his home state of Mississippi.

Durwood Cable: The main defense lawyer. Rival and sometimes friend of Wendall Rohr.

Rankin Fitch: A "consultant" for the "Big Four" tobacco companies. Directed eight trials, engineered two mistrials. Known for using unethical schemes to win the trials.

Nicolas Easter: The decisive juror of the trial. Real name is Jeff Kerr. Also had identifications of David Lancaster and Perry Hirsch; used to try to enter previous cases, but failed. Had two years of law school before he met Marlee.

Marlee: The girlfriend and outside contact of Nicolas Easter. Real name is Gabrielle Brant. Parents died due to smoking. Has since meeting Jeff Kerr, schemed to follow and benefit from tobacco litigation.

Frederick Harkin: The judge in the case Wood v. Pynex

Loreen Duke: Black female juror. Divorced with two children. Voted for plaintiff.

Angel Weese: Fellow black female juror. Boyfriend is Derrick Maples, who was bribed by Rohr to try to convince Angel to vote for plaintiff. Although this attempt was unsuccessful, she nevertheless voted for plaintiff.

Lonnie Shaver: Black male juror. Manager of supermarket, later convinced by new employer to vote for defense. Employer was friend of one of the tobacco companies.

Stella Hulic: Obnoxious white female social climber. Later got removed due to being followed by tobacco company. However, it was actually Marlee who phoned Stella and stated that the tobacco companies followed her.

Frank Herrera: Retired white male colonel. Later removed for having unauthorized materials. Those materials were actually planted by Nicolas secretly to have Herrera, a pro-defense juror and very antagonistic to Nicolas, removed.

Herman Grimes: The previous white blind male foreman. Very neutral, follows judge's orders very devotedly. Removed due to a sudden illness on the final morning of the trial. This illness was secretly created by Nicolas through drugging Herman.