Opinion ID: 1058362
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Evidence of Jennifer Biscan's Prior Alcohol Experiences

Text: The defendants argue that Jennifer was negligent in choosing to ride with an intoxicated driver and that any evidence relating to Jennifer's knowledge of the effects of alcohol was relevant. The defense proffered the testimony of Jennifer's classmates and friends that she had consumed alcohol and become intoxicated in the past. Brown also proffered testimony that Jennifer had ridden with him three to five times in the past when he had been intoxicated. Although the trial court excluded that evidence, it permitted the defense to introduce the blood-alcohol tests performed on Jennifer at the hospital after the accident. Those tests showed a blood-alcohol content of .032%. The trial court also admitted evidence that Jennifer had been told by her father and in school that drinking and driving was harmful, and admitted testimony that Jennifer had gone out with groups of classmates who consumed alcohol. We agree with the defendants' argument that evidence regarding Jennifer's prior experiences with alcohol was relevant. One of the factors to consider in determining the fault of a minor is the minor's experience. Eaton v. McLain, 891 S.W.2d 587, 592 (Tenn.1994). Because a minor may not lawfully purchase or consume alcohol, whether a minor has the capacity, knowledge and experience to appreciate the effects of alcohol is put in issue merely by the fact of his or her being underage. See Brookins v. The Round Table, Inc., 624 S.W.2d 547, 550 (Tenn.1981) (superseded on other grounds by Tennessee Code Annotated sections 57-10-101 and -102). Accordingly, we disagree with the Court of Appeals' conclusion that Jennifer's prior experience with alcohol was not relevant simply because the defendants did not argue that Jennifer was intoxicated or that her consumption of alcohol at this party had any bearing on her decision to ride with Brown. In our view, Jennifer's firsthand experience with alcohol was probative of her ability to evaluate the risk in choosing to ride with Brown on the night of the accident. Indeed, it is one thing to be told that alcohol can impair one's ability to drive; it is quite another to have experienced that impairment firsthand. Although the evidence was relevant, we further conclude that the trial court did not err in excluding the evidence. A trial court's decision to exclude evidence, even that evidence which is considered relevant, [is] generally accorded a wide degree of latitude and will only be overturned on appeal where there is a showing of abuse of discretion. State v. Saylor, 117 S.W.3d 239, 247 (Tenn.2003) (citing Otis v. Cambridge Mut. Fire Ins. Co., 850 S.W.2d 439, 442 (Tenn.1992)). Had the trial court admitted evidence of Jennifer's prior consumption of alcohol, there was a danger that the jury would confuse that conduct and any earlier negligence with the issue of negligence on the night of this accident: Jennifer's decision to ride with Brown. See Tenn. R. Evid. 403. Moreover, given that the trial court admitted some evidence establishing that Jennifer knew drinking and driving was dangerous, as well as evidence of her blood alcohol content on the night of the accident, the trial court was well within its discretion in excluding evidence of Jennifer's personal experience with alcohol. As the Court of Appeals observed, [b]ecause the jury found Jennifer negligent and allocated fault to her, it obviously found the [admitted] evidence sufficient to determine that Jennifer knew or should have known that Hughes Brown was intoxicated when she got in the car with him. Accordingly, we conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion.