Peterson v. Gilmore

Plaintiffs brought an action for negligence against the defendants for personal injuries arising from an automobile accident. Defendants answered, denied negligence and claimed the defense of contributory negligence. From a verdict for defendants, plaintiffs appeal.

The sole issue is whether plaintiffs were denied a fair trial because of alleged prejudicial misconduct of defense counsel in referring during closing argument to a “rule-of-thumb” theory in order to determine damages.

This appeal comes to us on a brief agreed statement of facts. It shows that during closing argument to the jury, *56def…