Rule 503 Late Settlement or Mistrial

(a) When a civil case is settled too late for the clerk of court to advise the jury panel that the jurors should not appear on the date summoned, the court may order that any or all parties reimburse the proper fund for the fees and mileage paid to the jurors and bailiffs for their attendance.

(b) When a mistrial is caused by any party, the court may order that the party, or parties, reimburse the proper fund for fees and mileage paid to the witnesses, jurors and bailiffs for their attendance. Ordering payment of jury costs as a sanction for mistrial. — After plaintiff employee sustained personal injuries at work, he filed a co-employee liability action against defendants, the company’s owner, the general construction superintendent, and the project superintendent; the first trial resulted in a mistrial due to certain comments made by plaintiff’s counsel during opening statements about the project superintendent’s change in testimony. The trial court acted within its discretion by ordering plaintiff to pay jury costs as a sanction under this rule; because the change in testimony was sufficiently presented to the jury, the trial court did not abuse its discretion by refusing to order a default judgment as a sanction. Dollarhide v. Bancroft, 2010 WY 126, 239 P.3d 1168, 2010 Wyo. LEXIS 134 (Wyo. 2010).