Underwood v. Pennsylvania R.R. Co‪.‬

Plaintiff's complaint under the Federal Employers' Liability Act for personal injuries allegedly suffered in the performance of plaintiff's duties as a brakeman for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, defendant and appellant herein, resulted in judgment by the circuit court of St. Clair County upon a jury's verdict awarding plaintiff $55,000 damages. On appeal, a divided Appellate Court for the Fifth District affirmed, and we allowed defendant's petition for leave to appeal. The principal questions involved are whether remarks and conduct of plaintiff's counsel during the trial were so inflammatory and prejudicial as to have deprived defendant of a fair trial, and the correctness of the trial court's denial of defendant's offer of certain proof. The trial testimony was summarized by the appellate court (62 Ill. App.2d 134) as follows: