— A judge Friday granted Merck & Co. attorneys access to bank and cell phone records that could show the extent of a juror's financial relationship with a plaintiff who won a $32 million verdict in the death of a man who took the painkiller Vioxx.

Juror Jose Manuel Rios, who earns $22,000 a year as a school janitor, testified in a post-trial deposition to borrowing up to $10,000 interest-free from widow Felicia Garza, the plaintiff in the lawsuit against Merck. He said the loans included $2,500 that was paid off just weeks before jury selection in the case.

Merck argued that Garza had a 23-year history of heart disease and had taken Vioxx only 17 days. Garza's attorneys countered that Garza had recently been given a clean bill of health and that short-term use of Vioxx could cause heart attacks.

Tilden Katz, spokesman for Merck's legal team, has said Merck attorneys were hoping the documents would help them "get to the bottom of" the financial relationship.

Oneida Saenz, a textbook data specialist for the Rio Grande City school district, said she watched the financial transactions beginning in the fall of 2003.

"He said, 'I can't wait to get back to court,' and I said, 'You don't want to get me started. You know you don't belong there,"' the affidavit reads.

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