Opinion ID: 865167
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: whether the trial court erred in excluding

Text: PHOTOGRAPHS OF OTHER ACCIDENTS ¶21. Finally, the Forbeses argued on appeal to the Court of Appeals that the trial court erred in excluding from evidence photographs of other GM automobiles in accidents when the air bags did inflate. First, we note that on this issue, the Court of Appeals was not divided. The Court of Appeals’ dissenting opinion addressed only the first issue before us today. Also, on this issue, the Forbeses did not contest the holding of the Court of Appeals in either their motion for rehearing or their petition to us for Certiorari. Nonetheless, because this case is being remanded based on our disposition of Issue I, we briefly discuss this issue. 21 ¶22. The standard of review for the admission or exclusion of evidence is abuse of discretion. Yoste v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 822 So. 2d 935, 936 (Miss. 2002). Evidence of prior accidents can be used to show only two things, the existence of a dangerous condition and the knowledge of such a condition. Parmes v. Illinois Cent. Gulf R.R., 440 So. 2d 261, 265 (Miss. 1983) (relying on Illinois Central Railroad Company v. Williams, 242 Miss. 586, 605-06, 135 So. 2d 831, 839 (1961)). Only upon a showing of “substantial similarity of conditions,” shall a trial court admit this evidence for these purposes. Id. “When evidence of other accidents or occurrences is offered for any purpose other than to show notice, the proponent of that evidence must show that the facts and circumstances of the other accidents or occurrences are ‘closely similar’ to the facts and circumstances at issue.” Johnson v. Ford Motor Co., 988 F.2d 573, 579 (5th Cir. 1993) (internal citations omitted). The Johnson court went on to state that even when a substantial similarity of circumstances is established, the trial court nonetheless has broad discretion to exclude such evidence. Id. ¶23. The Forbeses assert that the trial judge abused his discretion by not allowing photographs of a Chevrolet Impala and a Pontiac Grand Prix involved in front-end accidents when the air bags did deploy. Because testimony at trial showed that the damaged parts on those cars were the same damaged parts on the Forbeses’ Delta 88, the Forbeses wanted the photographs admitted to prove that the collision their car sustained was “hard enough” to cause the air bag to be deployed. The evidence, in order to be admissible, must be “carefully qualified.” Sawyer v. Illinois Central Gulf Railroad Co., 606 So. 2d 1069, 1075 (Miss. 22 1992). We simply cannot find that the evidence of photographs in this case was carefully qualified. The Forbeses did not offer any testimony on speed or weather conditions of the accidents involving the Pontiac and Chevrolet, and both of those cars are a different make and model than the one involved this case. Additionally, neither car in the proffered photographs were involved in this type of rear-end accident. The Pontiac collided with another in its side, and the Chevrolet ran off the road and hit a clay bluff. The trial court and Court of Appeals were both correct in holding that the Forbeses did not meet their burden to show a substantial similarity in conditions existed between the accidents in the photographs and the one in which their car was involved. We cannot find that the facts and circumstances of these other accidents were closely similar to the facts and circumstances at issue here. This issue is without merit.