Opinion ID: 2403835
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Dr Gehret's Pretrial Motion Severance Granted/Evidence Excluded

Text: The McCools' suit against Dr. Gehret was scheduled for trial on January 18, 1994. On December 15, 1993, Dr. Gehret filed a motion in limine. Dr. Gehret requested that the Superior Court sever the trial of the McCools' tortious interference claim from the trial of their medical malpractice claim. The McCools challenged Dr. Gehret's motion to sever the trial of their two claims. They argued that the evidence concerning Dr. Gehret's attempt to intimidate their expert witness was relevant to the medical malpractice case. According to the McCools, that evidence was admissible to impeach Dr. Gehret's credibility and because it manifested Dr. Gehret's state of mind and his culpability. On December 30, 1993, the Superior Court granted Dr. Gehret's motion. The Superior Court ordered the claims severed because it was persuaded that trying the two claims together would unfairly prejudice Dr. Gehret and could be confusing to the jury. According to the Superior Court, the tortious interference claim necessarily included an assessment of the effect of the intimidation efforts in harming the McCools' medical malpractice suit. Therefore, it ruled that the claims should be heard separately. Because much of the same evidence pertained to both claims, however, the Superior Court offered to explore the possibility of retaining the same jury to hear both claims consecutively, or, in the alternative, holding the medical malpractice trial before a jury, followed by a bench trial of the tortious interference claim. Subsequent to his successful motion to sever the McCools' claims, Dr. Gehret requested that the Superior Court preclude the McCools from referring in any manner, in the medical malpractice trial, to his alleged attempt to intimidate Dr. Dein. The Superior Court again granted Dr. Gehret's motion in limine, citing many of the same reasons that had persuaded it to separate the trial of the two claims (e.g., potential for juror confusion, possibility of inciting an inflammatory response, and undue prejudice to Dr. Gehret). The Superior Court also questioned the relevance to the malpractice claim of Dr. Gehret's attempted intimidation of the McCools' expert witness.