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Tucker v. Division Sales, Inc.

Case Date: 07/31/2000
Court: 3rd District Appellate
Docket No: 3-99-0106

31 July 2000

No. 3--99--0106

IN THE

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
JUSTICE HOLDRIDGE delivered the Opinion of the Court:

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