Hill v. Sherwood
Decision Date | 25 April 1986 |
Parties | Oscar G. HILL, et al. v. Gary SHERWOOD, et al. 85-64. |
Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
William W. Smith of Hogan, Smith, Alspaugh, Samples, & Pratt, and Hubbard H. Harvey, Birmingham, for appellants.
W.W. Dinning of Lloyd, Dinning, Boggs & Dinning, Demopolis, and Olin W. Zeanah of Zeanah & Hust and G. Stephen Wiggins of Roberts, Davidson & Wiggins, Tuscaloosa, for appellees.
The plaintiffs, Oscar Hill and Irma Hill, filed this personal injury action in the Circuit Court of Marengo County against the defendants, Gary Sherwood (as a co-employee of Oscar Hill) and Robert Jones Construction Company. After a trial, the jury found for the defendants. The plaintiffs appeal from the trial judge's denial of their motion for a new trial. We affirm.
As one of the grounds for their motion, the plaintiffs stated as follows:
In ruling on the motion, the trial judge entered the following order:
"It is, therefore, ORDERED by the Court that the Motion for New Trial is denied."
The law in this area is concisely stated in Alabama Power Company v. Henderson, 342 So.2d 323 (Ala.1977):
(Emphasis added.)
The plaintiffs contend that their motion was due to be granted because defense counsel's remark was so grossly improper and highly prejudicial as to be beyond corrective action by the trial judge.
It is well established that a ruling on a motion for a new trial rests within the sound discretion of the trial judge. The exercise of that discretion carries with it a presumption of correctness, which will not be disturbed by this Court unless some legal right is abused and the record plainly and palpably shows the trial judge to be in error. Hill v. Cherry, 379 So.2d 590 (Ala.1980). In Calvert & Marsh Coal Company v. Pass, 393 So.2d 955 (Ala.1980), the Court stated:
See also Daniel Construction Company v. Pierce, 270 Ala. 522, 120 So.2d 381 (1960), and State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company v. Boyer, 357 So.2d 958 (Ala.1978).
There is no hard and fast rule as to when a remark made by counsel in closing argument is deemed to be so grossly improper and highly...
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Murphy v. International Robotic Systems, Inc.
... ... See, e.g., Hill v. Sherwood, 488 So.2d 1357 (Ala.1986) (relief warranted only "where counsel's remarks were so grossly improper and highly prejudicial as to be ... ...
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In re J.F.C.
... ... Accordingly, I respectfully dissent ... --------------- ... 1. See, e.g., Hill v. Sherwood, 488 So.2d 1357, 1359 (Ala.1986) (court may consider unpreserved error in closing argument only when so grossly improper and highly ... ...
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