Kohne v. Yost

The majority concluded that the attorney’s unequivocal statements in closing argument constituted a judicial admission of negligence by the defendant. As a result, the majority concluded that plaintiff deserved a new trial.

I will first review the following elements of the trial in the order in which they actually occurred: the pertinent instruction to the jury; the closing argument by defense counsel, which the majority concludes is an admission of negligence; and the jury verdict.

In this case Court’s Instruction No. 1 provided:

“You are the sole and exclusive judges of the facts. You must…