Defendant in Motor Vehicle Accident Files Motion In Limine to Exclude BAC Evidence – Nice Try.

18 Wednesday Mar 2015

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Admissibility, Evidence, Expert Witness Report, Expert Witnesses, Forensic Evidence, Litigation, Motion in Limine, Motions in Limine, Motor Vehicle

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Autopsy Report, BAC Evidence, Daniel E. Cummins, Motion in Limine, Motor Vehicle Accident, TortTalk Blog

Admissibility of BAC Evidence Requires Proof of Intoxication, by Daniel E. Cummins, TortTalk Blog

http://www.torttalk.com/2015/03/admissibility-of-bac-evidence-requires.html

(Please contact Daniel Cummins at dancummins@comcast.net if you wish to review a copy of this opinion.)

In his recent February 9, 2015 Opinion in the case of Ritter v. Van Campen Motors, Inc., No. 12-00,379 (C.P. Lycoming Co. Feb. 9, 2015 Anderson, J.), Judge Dudley M. Anderson addressed Motions in Limine pertaining to DUI evidence filed by a Defendant in a motor vehicle accident case.

According to the Opinion, this matter involved a motor vehicle accident during which each party claimed that the other driver crossed the centerline resulting in the fatal accident. Accident reconstruction experts offered by each party came to opposite conclusions.

The Defendant filed a Motion In Limine to preclude evidence that the Defendant driver had a BAC of .257 at the time of the accident as confirmed by an autopsy report, testimony that the Defendant had been drinking prior to driving that day, and evidence that there was beer in the Defendant’s vehicle at the time of the accident. The Defendant contended that the BAC evidence was inadmissible absent proof of intoxication. . . .

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Duty to Defend In Insurance Case.

05 Thursday Feb 2015

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Duty to Defend, Insurance Law, Litigation, Motion in Limine, Summary judgment

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Barry Zalma, Duty to Defend, Insurance, Motion for Summary Jugdment, Motion in Linine, Zalma on Insurance Blog

Duty to Defend Not Effected by Denial of Motion for Summary Judgment, by Barry Zalma, Zalma on Insurance

http://zalma.com/blog/duty-to-defend-not-effected-by-denial-of-motion-for-summary-judgment/

Defense Can’t Be Avoided by Use Of Limine Motions

The duty to defend owed by an insurer is very broad and requires an insurer to defend even if there is only a potential for coverage on the facts of the case and the policy wording. Usually, an order denying a motion for summary judgment seeking an order that there is no duty to defend will usually be sufficient to reveal the potential for coverage and a requirement for defense – at least under a reservation of rights – to those insured. In McMillin Companies, LLC v. American Safety Indemnity Company, — Cal.Rptr.3d —-, 2015 WL 270034 (Cal.App. 4 Dist., 1/22/15) the right to claim no duty to defend will still exist even after a motion for summary judgment is denied if the motion order is not dispositive of the claims made by the motion for summary judgment. It also criticized the use of a motion in limine (to limit testimony allowed at trial) when it had the effect of a motion for summary judgment without the protections of a motion for summary judgment. . . .

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