Opinion ID: 1909932
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Admissibility of Plaintiff's Financial Circumstances

Text: Hewitt further claims that the court erred in its admission of testimony concerning Hewitt's income and assets during 1988 when she was living in California. Hewitt argues that admission of evidence as to her financial circumstances unfairly prejudiced her by allowing the jury to consider funds she had received from her settlement with Charles Bahmueller. The admissibility of potentially prejudicial but otherwise relevant evidence is reviewed on appeal under an abuse of discretion standard. State v. Giovanini, 567 A.2d 1345, 1346 (Me.1989); see M.R.Evid. 403. Hewitt herself initially introduced evidence that she was unable to afford psychiatric treatment while living in California in 1988. The court at first refused to allow the defendants to question Hewitt about the money available to her at that time, but agreed to permit limited questioning after Hewitt continued to present evidence of her lack of financial resources. The court, however, carefully restricted the scope of the questioning and prohibited any mention of the source of Hewitt's income. The court's admission of limited evidence of Hewitt's financial resources during 1988 was within its discretion.