Wozniak v. Segal

339 N.E.2d 309, 34 Ill. App. 3d 400, 1975 Ill. App. LEXIS 3366
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedNovember 14, 1975
DocketNo. 53118
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 339 N.E.2d 309 (Wozniak v. Segal) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wozniak v. Segal, 339 N.E.2d 309, 34 Ill. App. 3d 400, 1975 Ill. App. LEXIS 3366 (Ill. Ct. App. 1975).

Opinion

Mr. JUSTICE SULLIVAN

delivered the opinion of the court:

This matter was remanded for our consideration following the supreme court’s opinion in Wozniak v. Segal, 56 Ill.2d 457, 308 N.E.2d 611, reversing and remanding our former decision (7 Ill.App.3d 900, 289 N.E.2d 116) in which it was held that where the manifest weight of the evidence was not in question, the court was "conclusively bound” by the special finding that plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence. The supreme court, in reversing, held that an appellate court had the power to investigate the contentions raised to assure a just result and remanded the case for this court to consider whether the cumulation of errors alleged rendered the jury’s verdict unjust.

We construe the supreme court’s decision to mean that we are to determine whether the alleged errors denied plaintiff a fair trial by having a prejudicial influence on the jury’s finding, either generally for defendants or specifically that plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence. After examining each point individually and all the points in their totality, we conclude that any cumulation of error was not such as to deprive plaintiff of a fair trial and that justice does not require a new trial. The facts are summarized in our former opinion and will be repeated only as necessary to examine the points raised. . .

Plaintiff initially contends that error resulted during the testimony of the investigating police officer, a witness for plaintiff, who stated that skid marks of defendant Steelman’s car measured 38 feet and that, immediately following the accident¡ a braking test on a side street revealed that a hard-braldng at 30 m.p.h. left skid marks of 28 feet 10 inches. Plaintiff was thus attempting to show that Steelman was exceeding the speed limit at the time of the accident. On cross-examination, defense counsel attempted to show that a difference in the pavements of the two streets could have a bearing on any opinion as to speed. In doing so, he questioned the officer as to his knowledge of a Northwestern University Traffic Institute publication. The officer .denied any knowledge of the publication, and defense counsel then requested the court-to take judicial notice of it.' Plaintiff argues that this request necessitated an objection which placed her in a bad light because the jurors would believe that she was withholding information from them. At this point, we note that this argument was not raised in the first appeal in this matter and thus is not properly before us. (See Taylor v. County of St. Clair, 57 Ill.2d 367, 312 N.E.2d 231.) Moreover, the document in question was not received in evidence and, although the request that the court judicially notice it was improper, there is considerable doubt that the jury understood the meaning of “judicial notice.” Thus, it could just as easily be said that defendants had been placed in a “bad light” by the court’s refusal to judicially notice die document. In any event, we fail to see prejudicial error resulting from the remark.

Plaintiff also asserts that defendants’ counsel, in closing argument, improperly stated there was a difference in the composition of the two roads and, because there was no evidence to support it, she argues that prejudicial error resulted. We disagree. Plaintiff was asked by her attorney whether there was a difference between the two streets, and she replied, “There was a bumpy, what I would call asphalt.” Although she may have referred to both streets, we believe defendants could properly infer that she was indicating one street was different from the other. Furthermore, there were photographs of both streets in evidence from which defendants' could draw a similar inference. This argument was within the latitude afforded counsel in commenting on and arguing the facts in evidence. See Hopwood v. Thomas Hoist Co., 71 Ill.App.2d 434, 219 N.E.2d 76.

Plaintiff next contends she was prejudiced by the manner in which defense counsel attempted to impeach her testimony concerning her familiarity with bus transportation. She stated that she rode the bus to and from work and was familiar with this mode of transportation. A witness on the bus from which plaintiff had disembarked just prior to the accident had stated, that plaintiff appeared nervous and in a rush and had asked the driver where the Cicero Avenue stop was. In an apparent attempt to impeach plaintiff’s assertion that she rode the bus to and from work, defense counsel read from her deposition wherein she stated that she rode to work with her brother who “help me come from Poland.” She claims this introduction of her Polish ancestry was not impeaching and was prejudicially improper. Initially, we must disagree with counsel’s claim that this indication of plaintiffs immigration from Poland would alienate the jury. We believe it could be argued just as readily, and perhaps more so, that this reference to her ancestry produced a favorable jury reaction. In any event, while we agree that the reference was not impeaching, we note that plaintiffs ancestry had been established earlier in the trial by plaintiffs own counsel during cross-examination of Rita Starr, a passenger on the bus, who stated that she heard plaintiff talking to her son in Polish. Further, plaintiffs foreign extraction was apparent from her own testimony which was in a form of broken English, indicative of her ethnic origin. We conclude therefore that no prejudice resulted from the reference to her country of origin.

Plaintiff next argues that defense counsel was improperly permitted to “testify” and bolster his witnesses’ testimony. Defendants Segal and Steelman had been called by plaintiff under section 60 of the Civil Practice Act as adverse witnesses during plaintiffs case in chief. In the presentation of his case, defense counsel did not deem it necessary to recall them to repeat their testimony and, before resting, he announced to the court in the presence of the jury that he reaffirmed and readopted their testimony given during plaintiffs case. We do not believe this can be construed as actual testimony by counsel or an attempt to bolster the witnesses’ testimony, as contended by plaintiff.

Plaintiff also suggests that defendant, in closing argument, improperly stated that the injury to plaintiff’s leg was a torsion, or a twisting fracture, opposed to a direct fracture. She contends this was a crucial misstatement, going to the question of defendant’s due care and her contributory negligence, because it indicated plaintiff was struck by a glancing blow which caused a twisting of her leg. This was supportive of Steelman’s testimony that he was swerving away from plaintiff when she ran into the side of his car; whereas, plaintiff testified to a direct blow from the front bumper of the car. An orthopedic surgeon had testified that a torsion fracture was a twisting injury where the blow spuii the person around, and he stated that it was possible plaintiff had a torsion fracture of her leg but that he couldn’t make a definitive diagnosis without reading the x-rays, which had been destroyed.

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Bluebook (online)
339 N.E.2d 309, 34 Ill. App. 3d 400, 1975 Ill. App. LEXIS 3366, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wozniak-v-segal-illappct-1975.