Opinion ID: 1745503
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Whether Evidence of the Plaintiff's Flood Insurance Claim and Carpet Cleaning from 2004 Was Properly Excluded.

Text: ¶ 34. USF & G claims that the trial court should have allowed it to present evidence of Martin's flood insurance claim and carpet cleanup from an incident in 2004. Before trial, USF & G informed the trial court that it wished to introduce 1) evidence that Martin bought a flood insurance policy from a different insurance company subsequent to the incident at issue and made a successful claim for damages from a flood in 2004, and 2) a handwritten receipt from Gardner's Carpet Cleaning showing that the cleaning services after the 2004 flood were the same as the cleaning services in 2003. USF & G argued that this was relevant because a jury could draw an inference that the damage in 2003 resulted from a flood because the cleaning services in 2004 were the same as those performed in 2003, and because another insurance policy covered the damage under its flood policy. Martin argued that this evidence was irrelevant because it concerns a different event. ¶ 35. The trial court admitted the carpet cleaning receipt for services performed in 2003 and 2004, but redacted the writing concerning the 2004 cleaning. Also, the trial court sustained Martin's objections to USF & G's attempt to question Gardner about the redacted writing on the receipt. The record does not reflect that USF & G attempted to question Martin about the 2004 flood insurance policy. ¶ 36. On appeal, USF & G only challenges the redaction of the receipt and the trial court's refusal to allow USF & G to cross-examine Gardner about the redacted writing. ¶ 37. When reviewing a trial court's decision regarding evidentiary matters, the standard of review is abuse of discretion. Payne v. Whitten, 948 So.2d 427 (Miss.2007) (citation omitted). When determining whether or not a trial court abused its discretion in making a decision regarding the admissibility of evidence, this Court will review the record to determine whether the trial court employed the proper legal standards. McMillan v. Rodriguez, 823 So.2d 1173, 1177 (Miss. 2002). The relevance of evidence is governed by Mississippi Rules of Evidence 401 through 403. ¶ 38. Our first inquiry must be whether or not the evidence is relevant, that is, if it tends to make a fact of consequence more or less probable than without the evidence. Miss. R. Evid. 401. The fact that Gardner considered his cleaning services in 2004 the same as the services he performed in 2003 does not tend to make it less likely that Martin's gallery was damaged by sewer or drain backup in 2003. Without the information about Martin's subsequent flood insurance policy with a different insurance company, the fact that Gardner considered the cleaning in 2004 to be the same as in 2003 is completely irrelevant. ¶ 39. Even if USF & G had attempted to question Martin about her 2004 flood insurance policy and argued on appeal that it should have been allowed to do so, the link between the invoice and the cause or causes of the 2003 damage remains too tenuous and convoluted. First, the jury would have to infer that Gardner's opinion regarding the similarity in cleaning services in 2003 and 2004 was an indication that the damage to the Gallery in both years resulted from the same cause. Second, the jury would have to infer from the fact that Martin made a successful flood insurance claim with a different company in 2004 that the damage in 2004 resulted entirely from a flood and not in part from sewer or drain backup. Third, the jury would have to conclude from the first two inferences that the damage in 2003 resulted entirely from a flood and not in part from sewer or drain backup. The logical connections underlying these inferences are highly questionable, as is the probative value of the evidence. ¶ 40. The redacted information from the receipt is irrelevant and inadmissible on its own, as well as when it is considered along with the information about Martin's flood insurance claim and carpet cleanup from 2004. Therefore, it is our opinion that the trial court did not abuse its discretion, that it properly redacted the carpet cleaning receipt, and that it properly sustained objections to USF & G's attempts to cross-examine Gardner regarding the redaction.