Menasco

Plaintiff appeals from an adverse judgment in this action for personal injury. We conclude that this is a patently frivolous appeal and, in addition to affirming the judgment, shall impose sanctions on plaintiff’s counsel.

Injured in a three-car collision, plaintiff brought suit against defendant and others. The jury by special verdict found defendant was not negligent and thus not responsible for plaintiff’s injuries.

Plaintiff’s sole contention on appeal is that defense counsel committed prejudicial misconduct during closing argument. She asserts defense counsel’s argument was designed to show defendant was unable to pay a substantial judgment, thus appealing to the passion and sympathy of the jury and denying her a fair trial.

The passage set out in the margin is the only part of defense counsel’s closing argument that is contained in the record, plaintiff having elected to prosecute this appeal without benefit of a reporter’s transcript. Obviously, this court is in no position to determine whether counsel’s statements were taken out of context, or even if improper, were prejudicial.

Plaintiff nevertheless claims that the excerpted portion of defense counsel’s…