Natalie Kipp
v.
Douglas Sanford, M.D.
Appellant
Natalie Kipp
Appellee
Douglas Sanford, M.D.
Attorney for the Appellant
Pressley Henningsen and Benjamin P. Long
Attorney for the Appellee
Jennifer E. Rinden, Robert D. Houghton, and Nancy J. Penner
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Kellyann Lekar, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Mullins and Ahlers, JJ. Opinion by Ahlers, J. (17 pages)
Natalie Kipp appeals the district court order granting Douglas Stanford a new trial under Iowa Rule of Civil Procedure 1.1004. On appeal, Kipp first argues Stanford’s two objections during closing arguments and two motions for mistrial after plaintiff’s counsel’s closing argument and after rebuttal could not preserve his motion for new trial because defense counsel did not object at all during the rebuttal argument, and his motion for mistrial after the case was submitted to the jury was untimely because it was submitted after the jury had begun deliberating. Second, Kipp argues the district court abused its discretion by granting Stanford’s motion for new trial. OPINION HOLDS: Error was preserved. Under the circumstances of this case and in view of the significant deference given to the district court, we cannot say the district court abused its discretion in determining plaintiff’s counsel’s statements were misconduct, and we cannot say the district court’s prejudice determination rested on clearly untenable or unreasonable grounds. We affirm.
