Court Opinion

ID: 9732227
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 16:12:17.919966+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:23:13.177463
License: Public Domain

Thomas Gallagher, Justice
(dissenting).
I am in accord with defendant’s contention that it was deprived of a fair trial by the conduct of plaintiff’s counsel during his final argument to the jury. Therein, repeated statements were made as to defendant’s witnesses, characterizing them in a manner entirely unjustified and unsubstantiated by the record, to most of which timely and proper objections were made by defendant’s counsel. Illustrative thereof are the following excerpts from such argument :
“[Mr. Essling, plaintiff’s counsel] * * * And he [Dr. John A. Twomey] told Mr. Moonan [attorney for defendant], when he asked him, that the statement in there, an odor of alcohol on admission, had nothing to do with advising or informing the on-coming doctor as to how to treat Mr. Patton. He told you frankly, fearlessly and fairly that he put this entry in this record because he was told to do so. He was ordered to put that into this record.” (Italics supplied.)
“* * * You can consider * * * whether this record may have been made in anticipation it might get into court before a jury at some time.”
“Mr. Essling: I submit that the interests opposing Edward Patton were at the time, * * * interested in making a trial brief to use against him when the case came into court.” (Italics supplied.)
“Mr. Essling: * * * when we are on the question of sympathy and prejudice, there are some things that are not entirely sympathy and some things * * * that are not entirely prejudice that you can bear in mind to help you weigh and help you in deciding what you are going to decide in this case. For instance, when they brought Mr. Jensen and Lundquist into court and Mr. Jensen, surly as he was, told how the man that he knew for only seven days of employ-*378meat was so bad that I felt ashamed, and I don’t know of anybody except a mecm man, a brute, would ever come in and testify to anything like that * * *. But you didn’t hear anybody tell about the time in Pearl Harbor when Edward Patton went into the United States Air Force, and we were mighty glad to have him then, we were proud of him then, and I think probably Jensen was, too. * * *” (Italics supplied.)
“[Mr. Essling] * * * I think of O’Donnell or O’Connell, Doctor, whatever his name is, a professional and expert witness who was paid to come in here and who wants you folks to believe and tell you that Eddie Patton, who is living out at the Minnesota Soldiers Home, in the crippled building, can throw that cane away with a five-eighths inch heel and go back to work. I think the sum and substance of that man’s testimony could be emphasized on the word heel.” (Italics supplied.)
“[Mr. Essling] * * * when you got your summons to appear in this Court House, report for jury duty, nobody told you, that summons didn’t say you had to leave your hearts and your minds at home. * * * And the summons to report for jury duty didn’t tell you you had to come in and act as human icicles and be frigid and cold towards anybody that made a claim, and I am sure that you didn’t regard it as that. All that the law expects of jurors is that they be fair and act as reasonable persons and that you do the same as you would want to have done in your situation were you the plaintiff.” (Italics supplied.)
There are other instances similar to the above wherein plaintiff’s counsel went far beyond the record in his closing argument. Taken all together they not only gave the jury a distorted view of the evidence but without question unjustly prejudiced its members against defendant and its witnesses. See, Rian v. Hegnauer, 210 Minn. 607, 299 N. W. 673; Prescott v. Swanson, 197 Minn. 325, 267 N. W. 251; Baird v. Chicago, M. St. P. & P. R. Co. 179 Minn. 127, 228 N. W. 552. It is true that at times during the course of the argument the trial court admonished the jury to disregard statements of this kind and to use their own recollection of what the evidence established. It is *379true that, where we have felt that the effect of counsels’ prejudicial remarks have been cured by admonitions of the trial court, we have held that no prejudicial error results. Koenigs v. Thome, 226 Minn. 14, 31 N. W. (2d) 534. But where, as in the instant case, such prejudicial excursions beyond the record become so numerous, pointed, and violent, we have generally concluded that any instructions which the trial court may have given with respect thereto must have failed to nullify their adverse effect. Ellwein v. Holmes, 243 Minn. 397, 68 N. W. (2d) 220; Jeddeloh v. Hockenhull, 219 Minn. 541, 18 N. W. (2d) 582; Swanson v. Swanson, 196 Minn. 298, 265 N. W. 39. Here I cannot escape the conclusion that the remarks of plaintiff’s counsel as referred to above were of such a nature as to require a new trial in the interests of justice.