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Perrotti v. Gonicberg7/7/2005
ed). We emphasize that in an appropriate case this Court may reach a similar result. Today, however, we affirm the trial justice's decision in the current case and hold that she did not err when she granted judgment as a matter of law in favor of defendant.
Evidence of Ashley's Injury
The plaintiffs' second assignment of error is that the trial justice improperly excluded evidence of Ashley's broken leg. They contend that this evidence was "directly relevant to the level of apprehension experienced by Ms. Perrotti" because the injury to her two-year-old daughter was one reason why her concern about her unborn child was so deep-seated. Further, they assert, such evidence was directly relevant to her state of mind, and was necessary to refute defendant's attacks on her credibility. The defendant counters that the evidence of Ashley's broken leg is directly related only to plaintiffs' claim of loss of consortium as it relates to Ashley's injury. He points out that plaintiffs chose to sever their own claims from those of Ashley's and, accordingly, their loss-of-consortium claim must await another day.
"The admission or exclusion of evidence on grounds of relevancy is within the sound discretion of the trial justice and, absent a showing of abuse of this discretion, this Court will not disturb a ruling concerning the admissibility of evidence." State v. Lynch, 854 A.2d 1022, 1035 (R.I. 2004) (quoting State v. Calenda, 787 A.2d 1195, 1199 (R.I. 2002)). Here, we see no abuse of discretion in the trial justice's decision to exclude evidence of Ashley's injury . The plaintiffs sought to include evidence of the two-year-old child's broken leg to support the mother's claim of "psychic suffering," contending that knowledge of her daughter's broken leg increased her worries about her unborn child. The trial justice emphasized, however, that the plaintiffs had chosen to pursue their daughter's claim and any derivative claims of Mrs. Perrotti independently. She excluded the evidence of Ashley's injury as irrelevant to the plaintiffs' damage claim for "Mrs. Perrotti's physical injuries and any mental suffering resulting therefrom." We perceive no abuse of discretion in her ruling.
Conclusion
For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the judgment of the Superior Court, to which we remand the record of the case.
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