State Highway Department v. Smith

Frankum, Judge.

“The right to open is important. It enables the party to give direction to the case, very often to choose the ground on which the battle shall be fought. And the right to conclude is more important still. Even in fair and legitimate argument, the party concluding has the advantage of knowing precisely the line of his opponent, and therefore of directing his attention to it, and arraying everything in the case, that fairly illustrates and sustains his view of it.” Buchanan v. McDonald, 40 Ga. 286, 288. The denial of the right to open and conclude the argument to the jury to the…