Fieger has cash award rejected
Appeals court says jury heard excess emotion
October 9, 2001

The Michigan Court of Appeals has overturned a $5.5-million verdict won by the family of a 9-year-old Detroiter killed in a traffic accident, citing their lawyer's improper emotional addressing of the jury.

In a 2-1 decision, the appellate panel found that lawyer Geoffrey Fieger's repeated references to the donation of the dead child's organs "was an emotional one . . . not relevant to any measure of damages."

The court upheld the jury's finding that the defendant, nonprofit mental health care provider Northeast Guidance Center Inc., was liable for the death of Richard Smith III, but ordered a new trial for damages.

The ruling, released Monday, was the latest in a string of appellate setbacks for the Southfield lawyer and his clients. In the last 2 1/2 years, Fieger clients have lost more than $60 million in jury verdicts on appeal.

Fieger responded to Monday's decision by repeating his allegation that the Michigan appellate courts have "become a laughingstock."

"They're result-oriented," he said. "They'll say virtually anything to take away a big verdict."

In the Smith case, Fieger said he expected to prevail.

"If I try this case a hundred times," he said, "I'd get a bigger verdict every time."

A lawyer for Northeast Guidance Center said he had not consulted with his client and declined to comment.

Smith was killed in 1995 when he was crossing a Detroit street and was struck by a Northeast Center van. The driver said she was traveling at only about 25 m.p.h. but did not see the boy until the last moment.

At the trial, the center's lawyers argued that the boy contributed to the accident by improperly crossing the street. But the jury rejected that claim.

The majority on the appeals court, Judges David Sawyer and Henry Saad, said that Fieger's impassioned speech to the jury about organ donation -- "take my bones and every muscle in my body and find a way to make a crippled child walk" -- was not germane to the loss suffered by the boy's family, and not permissible under Michigan law.

Dissenting Judge William Murphy agreed that the references to organ donation were improper, but said they were harmless and should not require reversal.

Either side could seek leave to appeal with the Michigan Supreme Court. If no appeal is taken, the case will be returned to Wayne County for a new trial on the damage award.