Source: https://www.legalcrystal.com/case/95129/new-york-central-r-co-vs-johnson
Timestamp: 2019-04-18 13:04:04+00:00

Document:
Appellant New York Central R. Co.
defense, that the plaintiff's physical condition was attributable to disease as an independent cause, and this defense may be established as well by cross-examination of plaintiff's witnesses as by direct testimony of witnesses for the defendant. P. 279 U. S. 316 .
2. Where, in an action in damages against a railroad for personal injuries, counsel for the defendant attempted to develop, by cross-examination of plaintiff's witnesses, evidence which would support a defense that the physical condition of the plaintiff was due to syphilis as an independent cause, but formally abandoned this defense at the close of the case, the conduct of counsel for the plaintiff in repeating before the jury that syphilis was the defense in the case, and the use of vituperative language in denouncing the defendant for charging the plaintiff with indecency -- although plaintiff's own witness had testified that the disease was frequently transmitted to innocent parties -- was calculated improperly to influence the verdict by appealing to passion and prejudice, and is ground for reversal. P. 279 U. S. 317 .
3. Defense counsel's want of good judgment or good taste, or even misconduct, in following a line of inquiry on cross-examination which might be availed of to establish a valid defense, but one which was formally abandoned at the close of the case, was not an issue for the jury, and could not excuse misconduct on the part of opposing counsel. P. 279 U. S. 317 .
4. A bitter and passionate attack on opposing counsel's conduct of the case, under circumstances tending to stir the resentment and arouse the prejudice of the jury, should be promptly suppressed by the trial court, and failure to sustain an objection to the misconduct or otherwise to make certain that the jury would disregard it enhances its prejudicial effect. P. 279 U. S. 318 .
5. The public interest requires that litigation be fairly and impartially conducted, and it is the duty of the court to protect suitors in their rights to a verdict uninfluenced by the appeals of counsel to passion and prejudice. P. 279 U. S. 318 .
6. Failure of counsel to particularize an exception will not preclude the court from correcting error in a case involving a verdict influenced by passion or prejudice. P. 279 U. S. 318 .
of the cause, all tending to create an atmosphere of hostility toward the defendant as a railroad company located in another section of the country, should have been condemned as an improper appeal to sectional or local prejudice. P. 279 U. S. 319 .
8. It is the duty of counsel presenting cases to this Court to be adequately prepared and to be fair and candid in the argument. P. 279 U. S. 319 .
Such a bitter and passionate attack on petitioner's conduct of the case, under circumstances tending to stir the resentment and arouse the prejudice of the jury, should have been promptly suppressed. See Masterson v. Chicago & N.W. Ry. Co., 102 Wis. 571, 574; Gulf, Colorado & S.F. Ry. Co. v. Butcher, 83 Tex. 309, 316; Tucker v. Henniker, supra at p. 322; Monroe v. Chicago & Alton R. Co., 297 Mo. 633, 644. The failure of the trial judge to sustain petitioner's objection or otherwise to make certain that the jury would disregard the appeal could only have left them with the impression that they might properly be influenced by it in rendering their verdict, and thus its prejudicial effect was enhanced. See Hall v. United States, 150 U. S. 76 , 150 U. S. 81 ; Graves v. United States, 150 U. S. 118 , 150 U. S. 121 ; Wilson v. United States, 149 U. S. 60 , 149 U. S. 68 . That the quoted remarks of respondents' counsel so plainly tended to excite prejudice as to be ground for reversal is, we think, not open to argument. The judgments must be reversed, with instructions to grant a new trial.
correcting the error. Brasfield v. United States, 272 U. S. 448 , 272 U. S. 450 .

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