Free Letter - District Court of Delaware - Delaware

Case 1:04-cv-00956-GMS

Document 156

Filed 05/02/2006

Page 1 of 2

Montgomery, McCracken, Walker & Rhoads, llp
attorneys at law Richard Montgomery Donaldson
Admitted in Delaware, Pennsylvania & New Jersey

300 Delaware Avenue, Suite 750 Wilmington, DE 19801 302-504-7800 Fax 302-504-7820

123 South Broad Street Avenue of the Arts Philadelphia, PA 19109 215-772-1500 Fax 215-772-7620 LibertyView 457 Haddonfield Road, Suite 600 Cherry Hill, NJ 08002 856-488-7700 Fax 856-488-7720 1235 Westlakes Drive, Suite 200 Berwyn, PA 19312 610-889-2210 Fax 610-889-2220

Direct Dial 302-504-7840

[email protected]

May 2, 2006 Via CM/ECF Filing and Hand Delivery The Honorable Gregory M. Sleet United States District Court District of Delaware 844 King Street Wilmington, DE 19801 Re: Price v. Chaffinch, No. 04-956-GMS (as Lead Case now consolidated with Foraker v. Chaffinch, No. 04-1207-GMS)

Dear Judge Sleet:

We have reviewed the Court's proposed voir dire questions transmitted to counsel by Ms. Walker on April 27th. We also have reviewed Mr. Neuberger's letter of April 26 (proposing questions regarding the prospective jurors' political dispositions toward Senator Adams and Governor Minner), which we had assumed the Court had reviewed before it issued its proposed voir dire questions. Last, we reviewed Mr. Neuberger's letter of earlier today, which again directs the Court's attention to the April 26th letter. This is to advise the Court that the defendants do not have an objection to the voir dire as transmitted by Ms. Walker on April 27th. Consistent with the Court's preference (which was made known to counsel at the pre-trial conference), the Court's proposed voir dire is brief and leaves unasked certain questions that each side would like to put in play. As such, it is evenhanded. If the Court decides to expand the voir dire beyond the straight-forward approach reflected in the draft circulated by the Court on April 27th to cover the topics suggested by Mr. Neuberger in his April 26 letter, then the defendants respectfully would request that the Court

A LIMITED LIABILITY PARTNERSHIP FORMED IN PENNSYLVANIA LOUIS A. PETRONI ­ NEW JERSEY RESPONSIBLE PARTNER

Case 1:04-cv-00956-GMS

Document 156

Filed 05/02/2006

Page 2 of 2

Montgomery, McCracken, Walker & Rhoads, llp

The Honorable Gregory M. Sleet May 2, 2006 Page 2

reconsider its decision on questions exploring employer-employee bias in the area of employment termination. In any event, the defendants believe that under no circumstances should a prospective juror be required to divulge who he or she voted for ­ which, at base, is what the plaintiffs' proposed supplemental voir dire questions seek to do.

Respectfully yours, /s/ Richard M. Donaldson Richard M. Donaldson (DE No. 4367)

cc:

Thomas S. Neuberger, Esq. (w/encl. via CM/ECF filing and U.S. mail) Stephen J. Neuberger, Esq. (w/encl. via CM/ECF filing and U.S. mail) Martin D. Haverly, Esq. (w/encl. via CM/ECF filing and U.S. mail)