Opinion ID: 505496
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: prejudicial effect of the insured's presence in the courtroom

Text: 25 Equitable next alleges error in the denials of its motion for bifurcation and its motion in limine to exclude Gonzalez from the courtroom. As to bifurcation, it argues that the trial court should have ordered separate trials for the determination of liability and damages. Equitable reasons that because it never contested the insured's qualification as a disabled person within the meaning of the disability income policy, all evidence of the physical condition of Gonzalez pertained solely to an assessment of damages--not liability. The presentation of such evidence during the liability phase of the trial therefore created unfair prejudice which warrants bifurcation under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 42(b). As to the motion in limine, Equitable contends that Gonzalez should have been excluded from the courtroom. It characterizes Gonzalez as a piece of demonstrative evidence whose mere presence before the jury created unfair prejudice within the meaning of Federal Rule of Evidence 403. And finally, Equitable asserts that the unauthorized and unsupervised viewing by the jurors of Gonzalez in the hallway outside of the courtroom had an unfairly prejudicial impact which necessitated a mistrial. In sum, Equitable challenges the right of a disabled plaintiff who is incapable of comprehending judicial proceedings to attend his or her own trial. 26 We begin this analysis by noting the limited standard of review for the denial of a motion to bifurcate. A Rule 42(b) motion is a matter peculiarly within the discretion of the trial court, see 5 J. Moore, J. Lucas & J. Wicker, Moore's Federal Practice p 42.03 (2d ed. 1987); and C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure Sec. 2388 (1971), which we review only for an abuse of discretion. See Kisteneff v. Tiernan, 514 F.2d 896, 897 (1st Cir.1975). Although Equitable urges us to find such an abuse in the instant case, it fails to cite a single case in which an appellate court has reversed a decision for failure to bifurcate and we also have been unable to find any. 27 Our inquiry in the present case is guided by the decision of the Sixth Circuit in Helminski v. Ayerst Laboratories, 766 F.2d 208 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 981, 106 S.Ct. 386, 88 L.Ed.2d 339 (1985). The Helminski case involved a products liability action brought by the parents of an autistic child against the manufacturers of a surgical anesthetic for damages allegedly due to in utero exposure to the product. During the trial of the case, plaintiffs' counsel announced an intention to call the child as a witness. The court found that the presence of the child in the courtroom would bias the jury against the defendant. The court therefore ordered a bifurcation of the trial on the issues of liability and damages. It further ordered that the child could not be present in the courtroom during the liability phase of the trial. At the end of a six-day trial on liability, the jury returned a verdict of no cause of action. Id. at 210. 5 28 On appeal, the court considered the rulings on bifurcation and exclusion separately. It found first that the trial court did not abuse its discretion by deciding to bifurcate the issues at an advanced stage of the trial proceedings. It then considered the exclusion of the child from the liability phase of the trial. The court stated that although a civil litigant does not possess an absolute right to be present during trial, the exclusion of a litigant does raise due process concerns. The court considered three different scenarios in which a plaintiff might be excluded from the courtroom. The first involved the broad assertion of a right to be present at all phases of a trial; the court found that even if a litigant were represented by counsel, the party could not be excluded arbitrarily from the courtroom. The second scenario involved a litigant whose mere physical presence in the courtroom might bias a jury: for example, a litigant with physical injuries allegedly caused by the defendant. The court found that physical appearance alone does not justify exclusion. Finally, the court considered the case of a plaintiff suffering a mental disability: a disability allegedly caused by the acts of the defendant which rendered the plaintiff incapable of understanding judicial proceedings. The court recognized that the mere presence of such a person in the courtroom might bias a jury and cause it to base its decision upon emotion--thus infringing upon the right to a fair trial. At the same time, the exclusion of a plaintiff who could not comprehend the proceedings or aid counsel would not offend due process. The court therefore concluded that in some circumstances a mentally disabled person incapable of understanding the trial could be excluded properly: If the court in its discretion determines that the party's presence would, indeed, be prejudicial, the court may bifurcate the proceedings into separate trials on liability and damages, excluding the litigant from the liability phase. 766 F.2d at 217 (citations omitted). 29 The Sixth Circuit emphasized that a defendant seeking to exclude a handicapped plaintiff bears the burden of establishing prejudice, and that mere prejudice alone does not suffice unless the court is satisfied that the plaintiff cannot comprehend the proceedings. The court found that the defendant in Helminski failed to meet its burden: 30 Although testimony indicated that Hugh was not toilet trained, could not speak, comprehend the proceedings, or assist counsel, and sometimes emitted frightening sounds, this description is insufficient to establish that the jury would be prevented from or substantially impaired in performing its duty. The analysis absent in this case would focus on the likelihood of Hugh displaying abnormal behavior and the likelihood of this conduct affecting the jury's ability to decide the case on the facts. 31 Id. at 218. The court therefore held that the trial court wrongfully excluded the child from the courtroom. 32 We agree with the ruling of the Helminski court that a trial court may decide to bar from the courtroom a disabled plaintiff incapable of comprehending judicial proceedings during the liability phase of a trial in order to prevent prejudicing the jury. In the instant case, however, we find no abuse of discretion in the decision of the court below to allow Gonzalez to be present for a limited time during a trial in which the issues of liability and damages were tried together. We base this decision on two factors. First, Equitable's motion in limine to exclude Gonzalez from the courtroom failed to establish the requisite showing of substantial impairment of the jury. The motion contained conclusory allegations of prejudice without setting forth facts which would support a decision to exclude the insured. In fact, the description of Gonzalez at trial by expert witnesses as immobile and noncommunicative undermines any inference of intrusive or disruptive behavior. Second, we note that the district court demonstrated an awareness of the potentially prejudicial effect of the insured's presence in the courtroom. The court ruled initially that Gonzalez could remain in the courtroom only for the five minutes requested by his counsel. The court then directed that counsel bring Gonzalez into the courtroom before the jury entered and wait until after the jury left to take him away in order to avoid attracting undue attention to the helpless condition of the insured. Although the latter directive did extend the period of time which Gonzalez spent in the sight of the jury, it reflected a sensitivity to the parties' conflicting rights of due process and fair trial. 33 In light of these facts, we find that the denial of appellant's motions to bifurcate and in limine did not constitute reversible error. We further find that the brief view of Gonzalez in the hallway by the jurors did not merit a mistrial. This is not a case in which counsel attempted to parade a handicapped plaintiff before the jury in a deliberate attempt to elicit sympathy, Helminski, 766 F.2d at 218 n. 8; rather, the event was an unanticipated, isolated occurrence. We find no abuse of the trial court's discretion in the denial of Equitable's motions for bifurcation and in limine.