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LARUE v. ARCHER6/11/1997
This is an appeal from a judgment entered on a jury's award of no damages to the appellant in a personal injury case stemming from an automobile accident. The appellant raises issues regarding the admissibility of
evidence and the jury instructions. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm.
I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
On September 15, 1993, shortly before 5:00 p.m., Nona L. LaRue and her passenger, Tracy Miller, were travelling north on Yale Street (referred to by the parties sometimes as Yale Avenue and yale Road) in Nampa. Yale Street is a two-way road, which runs north-south and intersects with the Nampa-Caldwell Boulevard. The Nampa-Caldwell Boulevard lies in an east-west direction. While proceeding in the traffic lane approaching the Nampa-Caldwell Boulevard, LaRue noticed Lauyrl Fred Archer's vehicle, which had been travelling east, at the stop sign on Davis Avenue. Davis Avenue, sometimes referred to by the parties as Davis Road, is located parallel to the Nampa-Caldwell Boulevard and intersects with Yale Street just south of the Nampa-Caldwell Boulevard. LaRue proceeded into the Yale-Davis intersection, passing on the right side of a number of vehicles that were stopped on Yale Street while waiting to enter the Nampa-Caldwell Boulevard. The stopped vehicles were not blocking Davis Street, so Archer proceeded also into the Yale-Davis intersection in front of the stopped vehicles. As LaRue and Miller continued through the Yale-Davis intersection, they collided with Archer's vehicle.
After the parties were unable to successfully negotiate a settlement, LaRue and Miller filed a personal injury action against Archer in July of 1994. During the trial, Archer admitted on cross-examination that he failed to yield to LaRue's vehicle as required by the stop sign at the intersection of Yale Street and Davis Avenue.
In a special verdict, the jury found that LaRue and Archer each were 50% negligent in causing the accident. Accordingly, the jury did not award damages to either of those parties and a judgment dismissing LaRue's claims against Archer was entered. The jury awarded damages to Miller and a judgment was entered in favor of Miller against Archer. LaRue timely appealed from the judgment.
II. ISSUES ON APPEAL
LaRue asserts that the district court erred in denying her request to admit evidence of Archer's payment through the mail of the traffic citation issued to him as a result of the accident. She also argues that the court erred in refusing one of her proposed jury instructions and in denying her request to incorporate all of the language of Idaho Code ยง 49-633, in one of the instructions given to the jury. Finally, LaRue contends that the cumulative effect of the district court's alleged errors constitutes reversible error.
III. DISCUSSION
A. Admissibility of the Payment of a Traffic Citation.
Prior to the presentation of evidence, LaRue sought a ruling from the district court on the admissibility of proof that, as a result of the accident, Archer had received a traffic citation for failure to yield at a stop sign (an infraction) and that Archer did not contest the citation but paid the fine. The district court decided not to permit the introduction of this evidence during LaRue's case in chief, on the ground that the prejudicial value of the evidence outweighed its probative value. See I.R.E. 403. The court did, however, state that the evidence may have "some potential rebuttal value," suggesting that the issue could be revisited.
Citing Mattson v. Bryan, 92 Idaho 587, 448 P.2d 201 (1968), and Beale v. Speck, 127 Idaho 521, 903 P.2d 110 (Ct.App. 1995)
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