Conlon v. Dean

The plaintiff appeals a jury verdict of no cause of action assigning as error the trial judge’s refusal to allow impeachment of the defendant driver, Mrs. Pauline M. Dean, by means of a statement she gave an assistant prosecuting attorney the day her automobile struck the plaintiff Bernadette J. Conlon. The trial judge ruled the statement was privileged, adding: “The prosecutor was in fact counsel for Mrs. Dean.” We reverse. The statement was not privileged. The error was not harmless. The contents of the statement might have been regarded by the jury, had the jury been permitted to learn the…