Opinion ID: 3063838
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Admission of Subsequent Remedial Measures

Text: Barker and Access Now also maintain that the district court abused its discretion in permitting TCR and Bolton to introduce evidence of subsequent remedial measures taken after Barker occupied her apartment in violation of Federal Rules of Evidence 407. We find no abuse of discretion. Rule 407 provides: When, after an injury or harm allegedly caused by an event, measures are taken that, if taken previously, would have made the injury or harm less likely to occur, evidence of the subsequent measures is not admissible to prove negligence, culpable conduct, a defect in a product, a defect in a product’s design, or a need for a warning or instruction. Fed. R. Evid. 407. The rule does not exclude evidence of subsequent remedial measures when offered for another purpose. Id. We review a district court’s decision to admit evidence of subsequent remedial measures for abuse of discretion. See Millennium Partners, L.P. v. Colmar Storage, LLC, 494 F.3d 1293, 1303 (11th Cir. 2007). 9 Barker and Access Now filed a pre-trial motion in limine to exclude subsequent remedial measures by TCR and Bolton. The district court denied the motion and stated it would allow Bolton to introduce “evidence of its design that was issued for construction or provided to Emory before the completion of the project but which may not have been implemented.” R14-281 (emphasis added). In their motion for new trial, Barker and Access Now argued that the district court erroneously admitted evidence of subsequent remedial measures taken after Barker’s occupancy of the apartment, in violation of the district court’s order. The district court was unable to address the merits of this argument, however, because Barker and Access Now failed to cite the official transcript pages showing the admission of any such evidence and objection thereto. On appeal, Barker and Access Now appear to identify two instances where evidence of subsequent remedial measures were introduced after Barker moved into her apartment. The first transcript cite references TCR’s closing argument concerning an alleged threshold violation. Besides the obvious fact that closing arguments are not evidence, TCR’s counsel pointed out that Bolton’s architect, Rafael Garcia, advised TCR about the threshold issue before Barker moved into her unit. This reference thus did not violate the district court’s order. The second instance, given without transcript citations, involves subsequent remedial measures 10 taken in Barker’s unit. However, our review of the trial transcript reflects that it was Barker who first testified about the various modifications that Emory made to her unit to accommodate her handicap. Barker and Access Now cannot now complain about evidence which they introduced. Accordingly, no abuse of discretion has been shown.