Opinion ID: 1143673
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Admission of Allegedly Prejudicial Evidence.

Text: The Murrays claim that testimony of an Alaska Airline's employee indicating that Virginia Murray was on a flight which stopped over in Sitka the day before the trial should not have been admitted. They claim this evidence was irrelevant and was presented solely for the purpose of inflaming the jury. While the evidence was not relevant to any issue before the jury, we find that Jury Instruction No. 2 cured any plain error. The jury was instructed as follows: As you can see, the defendants in this case, Peter and Virginia Murray, are not present here today. The fact that they are not here does not mean that they have admitted any element of the plaintiffs' case, whether related to liability or damages. You must critically view the evidence and the instructions I give you before making any factual findings. You may not draw any factual or legal conclusions from the Murrays' absence. On the other hand, you should be aware that the Murrays have been repeatedly advised of the trial date and, in fact, Peter Murray has been ordered by me to attend. They are entitled to no special consideration from you as a result of their refusal to attend.
The Murrays claim photographs of their house and the Feights' Wyoming mobile home were highly prejudicial, irrelevant and should not have been admitted. The Feights' response is persuasive: One factor the jury was required to consider in awarding punitive damages was the wealth of the Murrays. E.g., Clary Ins. Agcy. v. Doyle, 620 P.2d 194, 205 (Alaska 1980). The Murrays' failure to respond to court-ordered discovery relating to wealth substantially hampered the Feights' ability to introduce evidence as to this factor. The photograph of the Murrays' home was relevant to the issue of wealth, as was the fact that Mrs. Murray had recently traveled to Juneau from Seattle first class. Moreover, the Murrays' absence from trial made it impossible for the Feights to elicit trial testimony from the Murrays concerning their wealth. As to the Feights' trailer, this evidence is relevant to the Feights' claim that they have been in difficult financial circumstances since the re-entry of their store. It was not plain error for the court to admit this evidence.
There was evidence that the Murrays' attorney, Ed Stahla, was aware of Nicole's death before the repossession of the store. A woman employed by Stahla at the time testified that she had informed him of Nicole's death the day before the re-entry. Also, the two policemen who were present at the lockout testified that the subject of Nicole's death came up as the reason for Everett Feight's absence. This evidence is sufficient to support a finding that Peter Murray knew of the Feights' tragedy but proceeded nonetheless to repossess the store. Such evidence was crucial to the Feights' claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress and for punitive damages. It was not plain error to admit this testimony.