Legal Opinion
The Travelers Insurance Company v. Ray Ryan
Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Decided September 9, 1969No. 26371PublishedCited by 26 opinions
1Opinion of the Court
SIMPSON, Circuit Judge:
What are the permissible boundaries of fair judicial comment to the jury?
This recurring problem controls our review of this Texas Workmen’s Compensation Act Case. We determine that the trial judge, activated no doubt by the laudable motive of helping the jury reach what he considered the right verdict, markedly exceeded these limits by his comments. The result we view as a coerced verdict, requiring reversal.
The basic principle involved is clear; its application to individual cases is sometimes beclouded. 53 American Jurisprudence, Trials, Sec. 76, page 75, states it…
2Cases cited13 opinions
- Bollenbach v. United StatesSupreme Court of the United States · 1946
- Quercia v. United StatesSupreme Court of the United States · 1933
- Starr v. United StatesSupreme Court of the United States · 1894
- Doyle v. Union Pacific Railway Co.Supreme Court of the United States · 1893
- United States v. Philadelphia & Reading RailroadSupreme Court of the United States · 1887
8 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.
3Cited by26 opinions
- Robert L. Mendenhall, and Cmi Corporation v. Cedarapids, Inc., Defendant/cross-AppellantCourt of Appeals for the Federal Circuit · 1993
- Timothy Rush v. James Smith, Silas Hardison, David Robbins, James Conway, Rita Krapf, Nesby Moore, Vincent SchoemehlCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit · 1995
- United States v. Miguel Candelaria-Gonzalez and Manuel Ledesma-RuizCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · 1977
- Roland Sandidge v. Salen Offshore Drilling Company, Salen Protexa Drilling CompanyCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · 1985
- Jack Belton and John Crochet v. Fibreboard Corporation, Pittsburgh Corning CorporationCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · 1984
21 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.