Court Opinion

ID: 9700788
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 21:49:17.288255+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:21:14.595753
License: Public Domain

FLEMING, Judge
(concurring in part, dissenting in part).
I agree with the majority on all issues except whether respondent’s attorney’s misconduct was reversible error. I respectfully dissent on this issue and would remand for a new trial. Throughout the trial, but particularly during his closing argument, respondent’s trial attorney made inappropriate and inflammatory comments that made an impartial verdict impossible. See Sievert v. First Nat’l Bank in Lakefield, 358 N.W.2d 409, 416 (Minn.App.1984) (“pattern of repeated attorney misconduct may necessitate a new trial, even where no one incident would be sufficiently prejudicial”).
Respondent’s attorney’s characterization of appellants’ conduct on June 14, 1990, as “despicable,” “indecent,” “almost immoral,” and bordering on “gross criminal negligence” improperly implied appellants must be punished for Brandon Johnson’s death. See Minn.Stat. § 466.04, subd. 1 (1988) (punitive damages not permitted against school districts and municipalities). Other comments by respondent’s attorney impermissibly evoked the sympathy and prejudice of the jury. See Tiedeken v. Tiedeken, 363 N.W.2d 909, 910 (Minn.App.1985) (damages in wrongful death action are limited to pecuniary loss). Under these circumstances, I believe the aggregate effect of respondent’s trial attorney’s misconduct warrants remanding for a new trial against South Washington County School District.