Opinion ID: 2362237
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Improper Argument by Defense Counsel

Text: Davis' appeal concerns (1) the propriety of several remarks made by Maute's counsel during the course of the trial on damages and (2) the admissibility of photographs depicting the extent of the damage to Davis' car. Before trial, the Superior Court had granted Davis' motion in limine and restricted references to the severity of the damage to Davis' automobile. In his opening remarks to the jury, Maute's counsel stated: So that's essentially the nut of this case, and what is fair, what is reasonable under the circumstances, that's what we're going to ask you to do, we're going to ask you to listen to the evidence, even though we're not contesting liability, we're not contesting that Mr. Maute was involved in this accident  this was a fender/bender. If you had been at the corner of Memorial Drive and Route 13 on that day you would have seen what is essentially a fender/bender. There was, as Mr. Dalton said, his car struck the very back edge of the plaintiff's car, on the bumper. Everybody got out of their car. Mr. Maute said, is everybody okay? The police came. No mention of an injury in the police report. No mention of an injury at the scene. Everybody was fine; everybody went on their way. Imagine his surprise, two years later, when all of a sudden he receives a lawsuit. [2] During the cross-examination of Davis, the trial court allowed Maute to introduce photographs of the apparent minimal damage to Davis' car. The trial court held that the photographs were relevant and admissible to show the facts of the event but that Maute was not permitted to use the photographs to argue that the accident could not have caused serious personal injury to Davis. The record also suggests that, during the latter portion of his cross-examination of Davis, Maute's counsel held up one of the photographs to the jury. Finally, during his summation, Maute's counsel argued: We didn't hear of any injury or accidents that she sustained in April of 1997 that caused that back pain, so the question you have to ask yourself is, what caused that? Where is that coming from? What was the underlying reason that suddenly, she is complaining of leg pain, back pain? With, could it be that arthritis? I'm not a doctor. I can't tell you. That is a decision that you will have to make based on the evidence and the inference that you saw. But the question, really, is[:] Are all of the pains that she complains to have now, is everything related to this automobile accident to that fender/bender, as I have called it? Is that all it is? Or are there other things [at] work, and if so, then as [the] Judge said, that's separate that's not part of this case.