IN LIMINE MOTIONS: CHARACTER EVIDENCE EXCLUSION
Winfred D. v. Michelin North America, Inc., (2nd District, August 7, 2008) --- Cal.Rptr.3d ----, 2008 WL 3115802
A man who sustained a severe brain injury when the right rear tire on his cargo van delaminated and caused the vehicle to roll over, filed suit against the tire manufacturer. At trial, over objection, the trial court permitted defense counsel to introduce evidence that while the plaintiff was married to his first wife, he had an affair with and later married his business partner’s wife, that he falsely told his second wife before marrying her that he had divorced his first wife, and that after divorcing his second wife he had an affair with a third woman with whom he had two children. The trial court reasoned that the evidence was relevant to credibility and to the cause of the accident.
Following the jury verdict in favor of the defendants the plaintiff appealed, arguing that the disputed evidence should have been excluded under Evidence Code Section 352. The court of appeal agreed, reversed the judgment and ordered the case remanded for a new trial, holding that the disputed evidence was so inflammatory that it appeared reasonably probable that had it been excluded, the plaintiff could have obtained a verdict in his favor:
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