Opinion ID: 2182969
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Allstate's Offer of $11,000 to Saucier

Text: [¶ 29] Allstate argues that the trial court should have excluded evidence pursuant to M.R. Evid. 403 [14] of Allstate's offer of $10,000 in underinsurance coverage and $1000 in medical payments coverage in settlement of Saucier's claim, as it served to confuse and inflame the jury despite its relevance. Trial courts are afforded wide discretion when applying the balancing test established in Rule 403. See State v. Ifill, 574 A.2d 889, 891 (Me. 1990); Field & Murray, Maine Evidence, § 403.1 at 99 (4th ed.1997). Although the trial court should be more predisposed to exclusion when the danger is confusing the jury, see Field & Murray, supra, § 403.1 at 101 (citing State v. Grigsby, 666 A.2d 503 (Me.1995)), we will only vacate an evidentiary ruling if the trial court committed a clear abuse of discretion. See Ifill, 574 A.2d at 891 (citations omitted). [¶ 30] Once the issues of liability and damages were decided in the first portion of the trial, the court allowed evidence of the communications between Saucier and Allstate, including Allstate's offer of settlement, in the second portion of the trial in which the jury was asked to determine whether Allstate had withheld payment on an undisputed portion of Saucier's claim. Allstate argues that the only information that should have been made available to the jury was the fact that Allstate had made an offer of settlement in an undisclosed amount that Saucier had rejected. Allstate contends that disclosing the amount to the jury served to inflame them when compared to the large amount of damages previously found. [¶ 31] During the second portion of the trial, however, the jury was well aware of the extent of Saucier's coverage, $50,000 less the offset of roughly $10,000, notwithstanding the $200,000 in damages found to exist. Secondly, the jury was being asked to determine what amount, if any, of Saucier's claim was undisputed by Allstate. Allstate's communications regarding the two types of coverage available to Saucier and its estimation of the amounts to which Saucier was entitled are highly probative on this point. Withholding such details from the jury's consideration may have caused more confusion than including them, precisely because two types of coverage were involved in the overall settlement offer. This is borne out by the jury's determination that only the $1000 worth of medical payments coverage, that was not dependent on a determination of liability, constituted an undisputed portion of Saucier's claim. [¶ 32] The danger of unfair prejudice, if any, does not substantially outweigh the probative value of the details of Allstate's offer to Saucier, including its amount. The trial court did not commit an abuse of discretion when it admitted evidence of the specifics of Allstate's offer on the question of whether Allstate failed to pay an undisputed portion of a claim.