Opinion ID: 879802
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: remoteness in time

Text: The District Court's second reason for excluding the offered evidence was that the instances of Barrett's alleged employee misconduct were too remote in time to be relevant. The District Court has the discretion to determine that evidence is too remote in time and we will not reverse the District Court's determination of remoteness absent a manifest abuse of that discretion. Martin v. Laurel Cable T.V., Inc. (Mont. 1985), 696 P.2d 454, 457, 42 St.Rep. 314, 316; Preston v. McDonnell (1983), 203 Mont. 64, 67, 659 P.2d 276, 277. No fixed test exists by which the district court may determine remoteness of evidence. Rather, remoteness depends upon both the nature of the evidence and the circumstances of the case. Preston, 659 P.2d at 277. Given the nature of the evidence and circumstances in Martin, this Court ruled that a six-year-old letter was not too remote to have been admitted into evidence. Martin, 696 P.2d at 457. However, in Preston, this Court upheld the exclusion of two ten-year-old documents because of their remoteness. Preston, 659 P.2d at 277. In the instant case, the evidence ASARCO sought to introduce into evidence, which included acts of alleged employee dishonesty and theft, occurred within three years of Barrett's employment termination. Additionally, the nature of the alleged witness testimony excluded by the District Court directly pertains to the issue of Barrett's honesty with his employer. The alleged witness testimony is thus relevant to ASARCO's defense that it terminated Barrett for his dishonesty. Given the relatively short length of time elapsing from the occurrence of the disputed evidence until trial, the eyewitness nature of the evidence and the importance of the evidence to ASARCO's ultimate defense of termination for dishonesty, we hold that the District Court erred in excluding such evidence on the basis of remoteness in time.