31 July 2000
APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS
THIRD DISTRICT
A.D., 2000
LILYE W. TUCKER, as Special Administrator of the Estate of ELLIOT TUCKER, Deceased, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. DIVISION SALES, INC., an Illinois corporation, and JUSTEN PRODUCTS, Defendants-Appellees. | Appeal from the Circuit Court of the 12th Judicial Circuit, Will County, Illinois No. 95--L--14322 Honorable Lawrence C. Gray Judge, Presiding |
The plaintiff, Lilye W. Tucker, filed a products liabilitysuit against the defendants, Division Sales, Inc., and JustenProducts, after her son, Elliott, died while playing with a toydart gun distributed by the defendants. The plaintiff claimedthat the defendants' product was in a defective condition becauseit carried no warning about the possibility that the darts couldbe inhaled and interfere with the user's ability to breathe. Ajury returned a verdict in favor of the defendants. On appeal,the plaintiff maintains that the jury's verdict was against themanifest weight of the evidence. She also claims that she wasdenied a fair trial when the defendants violated an order inlimine. We agree that the defendants violated the order inlimine and that these violations prejudiced the plaintiff's case. Consequently, we reverse the judgment of the trial court andremand for a new trial.
In December 1994, the plaintiff bought an "Uzi Dart Gun" setas a Christmas stocking "stuffer" for her son, Elliott, who was12 years old. The darts included in this set were approximately2