As I expected, Judge Su Chon has today ruled that plaintiffs’ counsel’s remarks in closing argument in the Scott v. University Hospital brain injury medical malpractice case were improper and in violation of the pretrial order. However, she did not find that the misconduct likely influenced the jury in reaching its verdict.
An appeal is a certainty. The defense will be banking on the Utah Supreme Court’s recent aggressiveness in addressing improper closing argument. See, e.g., Wilson v. IHC Hospitals, Inc., 2012 UT 43, 289 P.3d 369, (repeated references to collateral sources) and Boyle v. Christensen, 2009 UT App 241, 219 P.3d 58 (reference to the “McDonald’s Coffee Case”).
