Opinion ID: 3134367
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Ill 2d 226, 242 (1988) (collateral evidence should be excluded to

Text: prevent the jury from becoming distracted from the main issues). Moreover, because the trial court took judicial notice of Dr. Jergens' party status, plaintiffs' counsel was able to inform the jury of the point he wished to make through Dr. Jergens' testimony,
lawsuit. Therefore, we conclude that the trial court should not have entertained Cook's request to hold a mini-trial into the side issue of whether Dr. Jergens' party status answer was complete and accurate. Of greater concern are Cook's groundless accusations of perjury and subornation of perjury in connection with this matter. The record does not bear out such charges. Dr. Jergens told the court it was his honest belief that he was not a defendant in the other suit at the time of his trial testimony because he had not been served with process. Opinions on points of law, even if incorrect, are not perjurious. Similarly, a person's honest understanding of his legal status cannot be viewed as constituting an intentional misrepresentation of fact. Therefore, Cook's charge of perjury should have been rejected. We also question the basis upon which Cook insisted that Sandberg lied to the court when he initially denied having discussed the separate suit with Dr. Jergens. The transcript indicates that Sandberg subsequently corrected himself by acknowledging that after seeing the papers for the separate lawsuit lying on counsel table, he informed the doctor of his belief that plaintiff planned to serve him in court. Sandberg admitted discussing the legalities of service of process, but denied that he had specifically told Dr. Jergens how to answer any questions at trial concerning Dr. Jergens' party status. Indeed, Sandberg stated that he did not believe the issue was relevant. Dr. Jergens, in his testimony, corroborated Sandberg's representations that the subject of how to answer questions regarding Dr. Jergens' party status was not discussed. Dr. Jergens also acknowledged having talked to Sandberg and others in the past regarding the legal significance of service of process. We conclude that the record contains no sound basis for finding that Sandberg intentionally misled the court. Even if Sandberg misspoke in his initial denial of having discussed the separate lawsuit with Dr. Jergens, it is clear from the context that he was attempting to respond to Cook's specific accusation that he had coached the witness on how to answer the party status question. We conclude that Cook's motion for sanctions based on perjury or subornation of perjury was not supported by the record and was meritless. We hold that the trial court abused its discretion in bringing to the jury's attention its personal belief that Dr. Jergens had testified falsely and had been led to do so by defendants' attorneys. This court has stated that a trial judge should refrain from conveying to the jury his or her opinions on ultimate matters of fact or the credibility of witnesses and the weight to be given their testimony. See People v. Santucci, 24 Ill. 2d 93, 98 (1962). In the case at bar, the prejudicial impact of the trial court's statement upon the jury can hardly be overstated. The jury was not apprised of the legal basis upon which Dr. Jergens' opinion of his party status rested, nor was the jury told of the circumstances under which the charge of attorney misconduct was made. Instead, the trial court told the jury, as proven fact, that Dr. Jergens had, in effect, lied at the behest of defendant's attorneys and that the jury could consider that fact in determining the witness' credibility. This undoubtedly had a devastating impact on the jury's perception of defendant, its lawyers, and its witnesses. By its unwarranted remarks to the jury, the trial court placed its neutrality in issue. Therefore, we hold that defendant was denied a fair trial and is entitled to a new trial. See, e.g., Forest Preserve District v. Wike, 3 Ill. 2d 49, 57 (1954) (judge should not make comments reflecting on the integrity of counsel in the presence of the jury); see generally A. Hartman, The Whys and Whynots of Judicial Comments on Evidence in Jury Trials, 23 Loy. U. Chi. L.J. 1, 19-21 (1991). We note further that the prejudicial impact of the trial judge's remarks was heightened by the immediately following closing argument of Cook, who riddled his summation with references to coached and deceitful hospital witnesses and manipulative attorneys. For example, Cook claimed that the rules of trial had been shamelessly ignored by the defense, including the rule that attorneys should not counsel or assist a witness to testify falsely. Cook commented that the nurses and nurses aides were nice people who had been encouraged to modify their testimony. According to Cook, his was the profession of Abraham Lincoln and Daniel Webster and the Declaration of Independence, while the defense attorneys profession was that of John Dean, John Erlichmann, people who were so interested in winning that they violated the rules. Cook told the jury that the probable reason for the lawyer misconduct in this case was that Mrs. Holton sustained terrible damages. He further informed the jury that it had been the victim of distortion of the truth by the named partner in a large St. Louis law firm. We believe that these remarks were of a type likely to arouse passion and prejudice in the jury, particularly in light of the trial judge's comments undermining Dr. Jergens' credibility and the lawyers' integrity. Therefore, the prejudicial remarks contributed to the trial court's error and combined with that error to deny defendant a fair trial under the circumstances. It is true that where there is record evidence in support of a claim that opposing counsel or parties falsified evidence or encouraged witnesses to change their trial testimony, counsel may fairly comment upon such evidence. If a witness' trial testimony significantly differs from his or her deposition testimony, opposing counsel may exploit such changes by traditional means of impeachment. However, modifications or additions to a witness' trial testimony which were not expressly stated in that witness' pretrial deposition do not, in and of themselves, suggest deliberate distortion of evidence by the witness or fraudulent coaching by lawyers. In the case at bar, plaintiffs' counsel believed that he had obtained damaging admissions from certain witnesses that defendant or its agents had encouraged them to change their testimony with respect to Mrs. Holton's condition in the hours preceding her paralysis. Because we are remanding this cause for new trial we make no express finding regarding whether there may have existed a sufficient evidentiary basis to support some of Cook's remarks indicating that defense counsel coached the nursing staff witnesses to lie and change their testimony. Although the appellate court in the instant case observed that there was evidence sufficient to raise such an inference, the court further stated that the evidence did not conclusively establish that hospital employees were manipulated or told to testify falsely. We hold only that the trial in the instant case was fatally tainted by the improper comments of the trial judge to the jury, coupled with closing remarks of an unduly prejudicial nature. The evidence of the hospital's liability was not so overwhelming that we can characterize the trial error as harmless under the circumstances. Nor can we conclude that the jury's verdict was unlikely to have been influenced by the trial court's comments upon the integrity of defense counsel and the credibility of one of its witnesses, especially in light of Cook's repeated charges of dishonesty and attorney misconduct.