## Facts

- George A. Straub worked for Reading Company as an assistant chief timekeeper at Reading’s Philadelphia terminal.
- While performing work duties, Straub fell from a ladder in a storeroom and claimed he suffered back injuries.
- Straub sued Reading under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA), seeking damages for the fall.
- Liability and damages were contested, including disputes about the ladder’s condition and the cause and extent of Straub’s back problems, given evidence of prior back trouble.
- At trial, Straub’s attorney repeatedly used leading questions on direct examination of Straub and other witnesses, often supplying the factual content in the question and requiring only a “yes” answer (including on topics tied to interstate commerce and the nature of Straub’s duties).
- Reading objected at times but also told the trial judge it did not want to object to every leading question in front of the jury; Reading asked the judge to monitor the examination and curb the practice.
- The trial judge occasionally instructed Straub’s counsel to avoid leading questions, but the same style of questioning continued.
- In addition to leading questions, Straub’s counsel repeatedly interrupted examination and made argumentative or prejudicial statements in the jury’s presence, including references to “official company” medical records and assertions about having “stated the truth,” which prompted defense objections and a request to withdraw a juror (mistrial).
- The trial court denied the mistrial request and proceeded to verdict.
- The jury returned a verdict for Straub, and judgment was entered in his favor.
- Reading appealed, arguing that it was denied a fair trial because of the deliberate, continuing conduct of Straub’s counsel and the trial court’s failure to control it.

## Issues

1. Whether Reading Company was denied a fair trial because of the cumulative effect of plaintiff’s counsel’s deliberate and repeated misconduct before the jury, including pervasive leading questions and prejudicial interruptions and comments.
2. Whether the trial court’s handling of counsel’s conduct (including occasional admonitions and denial of a mistrial) was insufficient, requiring reversal and a new trial.

## Decision

- The Third Circuit reversed the judgment for Straub.
- The court ordered a new trial, holding that Reading was deprived of a fair trial by the deliberate and continuing conduct of Straub’s counsel.
- The court concluded that the trial judge’s intermittent rulings and instructions did not adequately remove the prejudice created by counsel’s repeated tactics in the jury’s presence.

## Legal Principles

- A civil verdict may be set aside when counsel’s misconduct is deliberate, recurrent, and so affects the trial atmosphere that the opposing party is denied a fair trial.
- Courts evaluate attorney misconduct by its cumulative effect, not only by isolated incidents; repeated improprieties can warrant a new trial even if any single event might be viewed as harmless.
- Leading questions that repeatedly supply key testimony on direct examination, especially after warnings, may contribute to an unfair trial when combined with other improper conduct.
- Argumentative interruptions and remarks made before the jury—such as assertions about “truth” or references to purportedly authoritative “official” records—can be prejudicial because they place counsel’s unsworn assertions before the jury.
- Trial judges have responsibility to control examination and courtroom conduct to protect the fairness of the proceeding; where corrective measures are inadequate to cure repeated prejudice, reversal and retrial are appropriate.

## Conclusion

The Third Circuit reversed Straub’s FELA judgment and remanded for a new trial because plaintiff’s counsel’s repeated leading questions and prejudicial interruptions and remarks in front of the jury, taken together, denied Reading Company a fair trial, and the trial court’s limited efforts to curb the conduct did not cure the resulting prejudice.


Straub v. Reading Co., 220 F.2d 177 (1955)