Opinion ID: 1962729
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: pretrial and trial rulings

Text: [¶ 12] Scotia argues that the trial court erred by: (1) denying Scotia's motion to amend to add counterclaims and defenses of conversion and fraud; (2) excluding evidence of Lee's 1997 employment agreement and bonus agreement; (3) imposing time limits for the presentation of evidence at trial and informing the jury that they would have to return the following week if they did not complete their deliberations by mid-day on Friday; (4) denying Scotia's motion for a new trial on its counterclaims; (5) refusing to include Scotia's proposed jury interrogatory; and (6) refusing to instruct the jury on the issue of conversion. [¶ 13] Several of these claims of error are based on Scotia's argument that it first learned of the facts upon which to base the fraud or conversion claims shortly before filing the motion to amend. However, the trial court could have reasonably concluded that Scotia was aware of these facts for at least six months prior to initiating efforts to amend their pleadings. [¶ 14] It was within the discretion of the trial court to: (1) refuse to permit Scotia to amend a pleading late in the proceedings, Butler v. D/Wave Seafood, 2002 ME 41, ¶ 11, 791 A.2d 928, 931; (2) exclude evidence pursuant to M.R. Evid. 403 and 608, State v. Robinson, 2002 ME 136, ¶ 11, 803 A.2d 452, 457; State v. Poulos, 1998 ME 43, ¶ 5, 707 A.2d 1307, 1308; (3) manage the trial by setting reasonable time limits on the presentation of evidence and by controlling the timing of jury deliberations, Dolliver v. Dolliver, 2001 ME 144, ¶ 10, 782 A.2d 316, 317-18; Bradford v. Dumond, 675 A.2d 957, 962-63 (Me.1996); (4) deny the motion for a new trial, Budzko v. One City Ctr. Assocs., 2001 ME 37, ¶ 17, 767 A.2d 310, 315; and (5) frame interrogatories submitted to the jury, Hansen v. Sunday River Skiway Corp., 1999 ME 45, ¶ 13, 726 A.2d 220, 223; Williams v. Inverness Corp., 664 A.2d 1244, 1247 (Me.1995). There is nothing in the record indicating that the trial court exceeded the bounds of its discretion in the foregoing pretrial and trial rulings. [¶ 15] Scotia also alleges that the trial court erred by refusing to instruct the jury on conversion. We review the denial of a request for a jury instruction for prejudicial error. State v. Kim, 2001 ME 99, ¶ 7, 773 A.2d 1051, 1054. Jury instructions are reviewed in their entirety to determine whether they fairly and correctly apprised the jury in all necessary respects of the governing law. Id. [¶ 16] The court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to allow Scotia to amend the pleadings to include the counterclaim of conversion. At trial, Lee opened the door to evidence about life insurance policies and bank checks. The court then allowed evidence regarding these transactions for the purposes of establishing Scotia's counterclaim for breach of fiduciary duty and breach of contract. However, the trial court never changed its pretrial ruling excluding the conversion claim, nor did Lee's counsel implicitly consent to Scotia trying conversion as an independent claim. Because conversion was never before the jury as an independent claim, the court properly denied Scotia's request for an instruction on that issue.