Armbruster Dripps Blotevogel LLC partners Roy Dripps and Michael Blotevogel recently secured a crucial ruling on behalf of Illinois injury victims. The Illinois Court of Appeals for the Fifth District recently applied what is known as the Voykin doctrine to hold that a defendant cannot suggest at trial that a plaintiff’s injuries may have been caused by some unknown event. It reversed a relatively low verdict for a plaintiff, holding it was improper for a defendant to suggest during his cross-examination of the plaintiff’s doctor that perhaps the plaintiff’s injuries were not caused by a dog attack (the plaintiff was a UPS driver), but by something else. This ruling should protect those who are injured from having their awards reduced as a result of unfounded speculation.
