Weinstein v. Asinof — 113 N.Y.S. 996

Majority

p. 996

WEINSTEIN v. ASINOF.

(Supreme Court, Appellate Term.

January 7, 1909.)

Headnote

New Trial (§ 29^[1] )—Misconduct of Counse]>-Yituperation and Indecency.

Misconduct of counsel for plaintiff in using coarse and vituperative language and in making indecent references to defendant, to influence the jury and prejudice the verdict, which references are not warranted by anything in the record, requires vacation of a verdict for plaintiff.

[Ed. Note.—For other cases, see New Trial, Cent. Dig. § 44; Dec. Dig. § 29.*]

Appeal from City Court of New York, Trial Term.

Action by David Weinstein against Morris Asinof. From a judgment for plaintiff, defendant appeals.

Reversed, and new trial ordered.

p. 997

Argued before GILDERSEEEVE, P. J., and MacEEAN and SEA-BURY, JJ.

Morton Stein, for appellant.

Paul M. Abrahams, for respondent.

The judgment herein might well be reversed on other grounds; but, even so doing, we might not pass without reprobation the scandalous excess of the counsel of the plaintiff, whose resort, in language of vituperation and coarseness, to indecent assertions respecting the defendant, wholly without countenance in the record, for the obvious purpose of influencing the jury and prejudicing the verdict, require the judgment appealed from to be set aside.

Judgment reversed, and new trial ordered, with costs to the appellant to abide the event. All concur.