Bradley v. Caterpillar Tractor Co.

A jury trial of plaintiff-appellee Tracey Bradley’s personal injury action in the Circuit Court of Madison County ended in a verdict for defendant-appellant Caterpillar Tractor Company. The trial court granted the plaintiff’s motion for a new trial. We then allowed the defendant’s petition for leave to appeal pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 306 (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1977, ch. 110A, par. 306). The issue presented is whether the trial court’s granting of the motion for a new trial was an abuse of discretion. We find that it was.

The plaintiff’s action sounded in strict liability in tort. The gist of…