Overview
In an opinion Monday denying a motion for a new trial in a car accident case, Judge Gardephe rejected the plaintiff's argument (among others) that Judge Gardephe made unfairly biased comments during the trial. While Judge Gardephe acknowledged there were times that counsel "strained the patience of the Court," those did not take place before the jury. Judge Gardephe then listed various ways in which plaintiff's counsel was unprofessional, including:
His filing of a motion in limine at midnight before [the first trial day]. [H]is refusal to accept the Court's rulings, which meant that straightforward legal rulings were repeated, in some instances, three or four times. His repeated refusal to respond to the Court's questions, and his frequent interruptions of the Court. His degrading habit of referring to his younger, female adversary by her first name, both before the Court and before the jury. Defense counsel never referred to [plaintiff's counsel] by his first name.
