Opinion ID: 2210378
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Admissibility of 1984 OWI Conviction on Issue of Punitive Damages.

Text: The first issue on appeal concerns whether the district court erred in refusing to permit evidence of defendant's 1984 OWI conviction as that conduct bore on plaintiff's right to recover punitive damages. This ruling was made the basis for a motion for new trial on the punitive damage claim. In urging that this evidence should have been received, plaintiff relies heavily on the case of Thompson v. Moore, 174 Ga.App. 331, 329 S.E.2d 914, aff'd, 255 Ga. 236, 336 S.E.2d 749 (1985). The Georgia appellate court in the Moore case stated that [w]e can think of no circumstance more willful and wanton, more indicative of a conscious indifference to consequences, than repeated occurrences of driving while intoxicated. Id. at 333, 329 S.E.2d at 916. In excluding the prior OWI conviction in the present case, the district court expressed the view that this evidence would be more prejudicial than probative, a circumstance which justified its exclusion under Iowa Rule of Evidence 403. Ordinarily, rulings on admissibility under rule 403 lie within the sound discretion of the trial court. Henkel v. R & S Bottling Co., 323 N.W.2d 185, 193 (Iowa 1982); Kalianov v. Darland, 252 N.W.2d 732, 736 (Iowa 1977). See also Carter v. Wiese Corp., 360 N.W.2d 122, 131 (Iowa App.1984). The trial court was in a good position to gauge whether, in light of the substantial evidence of willful and wanton conduct in the act which injured plaintiff, evidence of a prior incident of comparable conduct should be permitted. This is, we believe, a typical rule 403 balancing determination. We find no abuse of discretion in the trial court's evidentiary ruling.