Collins v. Greeley
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Tort, for assault and battery, the only question tried being the amount of damages. At the trial in the Superior Court, before Fessenden, J., the plaintiff’s counsel, in his closing argument to the jury, used the following language: “ I don’t care if the atmosphere of the corridors of the court-house has been palpitating with suggestions about this case.
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Tort, for assault and battery, the only question tried being the amount of damages. At the trial in the Superior Court, before Fessenden, J., the plaintiff’s counsel, in his closing argument to the jury, used the following language: “ I don’t care if the atmosphere of the corridors of the court-house has been palpitating with suggestions about this case. I don’t care if there are friends of the defendant on the jury, or friends of his friends, or if there have been sibilant whisperings about the court-room concerning this case. Such things should nob have any influence upon your deliberations…
1Opinion of the CourtMorton, J.
The remarks objected to were uttered in the closing argument of the counsel for the plaintiff. The exceptions state that there were no suggestions or intimations during the trial of anything on which they could be based. If anything material, which was likely to affect the proper course of the trial, and which appeared to justify what he said, had come to the knowledge of the counsel for the plaintiff, it was his duty to bring it to the attention of the court. If he merely suspected *275or imagined that there might be something of that sort, then the intimations and suggestions and the…
2Cited by2 opinions
- Commonwealth v. BarkerMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1942
- Dillon v. PlimptonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1921