Wattenburg v. United Medical Laboratories, Inc.

The jury returned a verdict for the defendants in this slander case. The trial court, however, granted the plaintiff’s motion for a new trial upon the ground that one of the defendants’ attorneys made an improper closing argument. The defendants appeal.

The defendants contend that the trial court erred in denying their motion for a directed verdict. If the defendants are correct, whether the trial court erred in ordering a new trial becomes immaterial.

The defendants admit the utterance of the defamatory statements. The issues on the motion for a directed verdict are whether the utterance was…