A divided state Superior Court panel has thrown out a $14.5 million asbestos verdict awarded to the widow of a man who died from mesothelioma, determining that her counsel's suggestion of a specific sum for damages to the jury was improper and that the plaintiff's expert's testimony was inadmissable.
In Nelson v. Crane, the three-judge panel ruled 2-1 to remand the case for new trial, concluding the trial court erred in admitting expert testimony deemed prejudicial, and that the trial court's jury instructions failed to remove the taint of plaintiff's counsel's remarks made to the jury, and ultimately that the court erred in denying the defendants' request for a mistrial.
