Pingatore v. Montgomery Ward & Co.
United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
419 F. 2d 1138 (1969)
- Written by Serena Lipski, JD
Facts
Betty Jean Pingatore (plaintiff) was exiting a Montgomery Ward & Co. (defendant) store when she was attacked and bitten by a rat. She sued Montgomery Ward for damages arising out of her injuries. During closing arguments at trial, Pingatore’s counsel was dramatic. He used curse words. He put an empty chair in front of the jury and shouted, “Where is the corporation today?” He ripped down papers from Montgomery Ward’s closing argument, crumpled them, and threw them, while dramatically calling them lies. One juror cried. The jury found in Pingatore’s favor. Montgomery Ward appealed, arguing the trial court erred in permitting Pingatore’s counsel’s inappropriate conduct during closing arguments, among other things.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Taylor, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
