PORTLAND – A lawyer says patriotism in the courtroom interfered with his client’s right to a fair trial.

In a federal court motion, Terrence Garmey says the jury in his client’s personal injury trial may have been unfairly influenced when the judge allowed an insurance company witness to wear an American flag pin on his lapel while testifying.

By permitting the witness to wear the pin, the judge allowed him to “drape himself in the American flag, thereby cloaking his testimony with patriotism and inviting the jury’s emotional instinct,” Garmey wrote.

It was the “largest American flag lapel pin I’d ever seen,” Garmey said.

But attorneys for Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance Co. said in a response filed this week that since Sept. 11, demonstrating one’s patriotism has become a way of life. The document also says the pin was so small it is questionable that jurors could even identify it.

“These pins do not cloak those individuals with some unusual level of patriotism as the [plaintiffs] suggest,” the company said. “It is now simply a way of life that the flag is more evident in our homes, on our clothing and on our cars.”

The arguments stem from a lawsuit filed by Susan and Dennis Ford of Westbrook against their auto insurance company.

The lawsuit sought damages stemming from an accident in 2000 in Las Vegas in which Susan Ford was seriously injured after her car was struck by a drunken driver while she was making a U-turn, Garmey said. Ford suffered severe injuries and ran up $130,000 in medical bills, according to court documents.

Nationwide Insurance refused to give full coverage, claiming Ford was more at fault than the other driver in the accident because of the U-turn. A jury agreed in May.

Garmey says his clients deserve a new trial. Besides the flag issue, he says he should have been allowed to present certain evidence the judge ruled inadmissible.