Pagano v. Murray
Decision Date | 27 October 2003 |
Citation | 766 N.Y.S.2d 110,309 A.D.2d 910 |
Parties | LINDA PAGANO et al., Respondents-Appellants,<BR>v.<BR>THOMAS M. MURRAY, Respondent, and<BR>STEPHEN A. KATZ et al., Appellants-Respondents, et al., Defendant. |
Court | New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division |
Ordered that the appeal by Mid-Hudson Medical Group, P.C., is dismissed, without costs or disbursements, as that defendant is not aggrieved by the order appealed from (see CPLR 5511); and it is further,
Ordered that the order is affirmed insofar as appealed and cross-appealed from, without costs or disbursements.
In light of the inflammatory and improper summation comments of the counsel for the defendant Stephen A. Katz, we conclude that the trial court properly exercised its discretion under CPLR 4404 (a) in setting aside the jury verdict and granting a new trial as to Katz (see King v City of New York, 209 AD2d 673 [1994]; Steidel v County of Nassau, 182 AD2d 809, 814 [1992]; La Russo v Pollack, 88 AD2d 584 [1982]). The defense counsel's comments were particularly improper and unbecoming because Katz offered no expert witness on his behalf and instead, chose to suggest that the plaintiffs' expert was "a biased prejudiced paid off witness" who "lied," and whose testimony was "worthless" and "valueless." Moreover, Katz's counsel improperly attempted to deflect the jurors' attention from the issues in the case when he told them that the case was really more about the plaintiffs' expert than anything else. We are not persuaded that the cumulative effect of this conduct did not influence the jury verdict in Katz's favor. Since the error was fundamental, it would have been a gross injustice to allow the verdict to stand as to Katz, and thus, we affirm the trial...
To continue reading
Request your trial-
Bertram v. N.Y. Presbyterian Hosp.
...an adverse attorney or witness were unnecessary. E.g., Smolinski v. Smolinski, 78 A.D.3d 1642, 1643 (4th Dep't 2010); Pagrano v. Murray, 309 A.D.2d 910, 911 (2d Dep't 2003); Dwyer v. Nicholson, 193 A.D.2d 70, 77 (2d Dep't 1993).II. THE TESTIMONY OF PLAINTIFFS' EXPERT PEDIATRIC CARDIOLOGIST ......
-
Betancourt v. Trump Empire State Partners, 2007 NY Slip Op 31677(U) (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 6/1/2007)
...be said the conduct of his trial counsel did not to a great degree influence the jury's verdict in the plaintiff's favor (Pagano v. Murray, 309 A.D.2d 910, 911 [2003]; see also, Cherry Creek National Bank v. Fidelity & Casualty Company of New York, 207 A.D.2d 789, 790 Particularly when the ......
-
Maraviglia v. Lokshina
...Plaza Dev., L.P., 88 A.D.3d 838, 931 N.Y.S.2d 105; Gutierrez v. City of New York, 205 A.D.2d 425, 613 N.Y.S.2d 627; Pagano v. Murray, 309 A.D.2d 910, 911, 766 N.Y.S.2d 110; Reynolds v. Burghezi, 227 A.D.2d 941, 942, 643 N.Y.S.2d 248; Steidel v. County of Nassau, 182 A.D.2d 809, 814, 582 N.Y......
-
Ortiz v. Jaramillo
...McArdle v. Hurley, 51 A.D.3d 741, 743, 858 N.Y.S.2d 690; O'Neil v. Klass, 36 A.D.3d 677, 677–678, 829 N.Y.S.2d 144; Pagano v. Murray, 309 A.D.2d 910, 911, 766 N.Y.S.2d 110). Accordingly, the Supreme Court providently exercised its discretion*871 in granting that branch Tsioulas's motion pur......
-
22.16 C. The Defense
...counsel for plaintiff improperly implied that Ford Credit’s expert witnesses testified falsely for compensation.”); Pagano v. Murray, 309 A.D.2d 910, 911, 309 A.D.2d 910 (2d Dep’t 2003) (“‘a biased prejudiced paid off witness’ who ‘lied’”); Nuncio v. Chou, 183 A.D.2d 511, 514–15, 585 N.Y.S.......