Appellate Division to trial court: not so fast.
The trial judge's wide latitude does not extend to blanket prohibitions against counsel's voicing any objections during the other side's summation, or so said the First Department, in Binder v. Miller, which was decided on April 24, 2007. "[I]t is axiomatic that where counsel, in summing up, exceeds the bounds of legal propriety, it is the duty of opposing counsel, inter alia, to object specifically, to point out the language deemed objectionable, and to request the court to rule on the objection, admonish counsel to desist from such improper remarks, and direct the jury at the appropriate time to disregard such improper statements."
