Black v. Seabrook Associates, Ltd.

The opinion of the court was delivered by

NEWMAN, J.A.D.

Defendants appeal from a judgment entered in this wrongful death and survivorship action in the amount of $400,000, reduced to $240,000 based on the jury’s finding that decedent, Gerald Black, was forty percent negligent. On appeal, defendants argue that the trial judge erred by refusing to admit evidence of decedent’s blood alcohol level and the presence of cocaine metabolite in his system; that plaintiffs counsel’s closing argument, branding defense counsel as a liar and making repeated references to missing maintenance records and…