Daniel v. Penrod Drilling Company

ALVIN B. RUBIN, District Judge:

By motion for mistrial, one of the defendants in a jury trial raises the issue whether an agreement between the plaintiff and a co-defendant, not revealed to the jury or the moving defendant, to dismiss the co-defendant at the end of the trial, in exchange for the co-defendant’s agreement to offer no resistance to the plaintiff’s case, warrants a new trial.

Vernon Daniel, a Jones Act employee of Penrod, sued his employer for injuries sustained aboard a crew boat while en route to an offshore location. Pen-rod had contracted to perform offshore services for…