Opinion ID: 149600
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Morelli's Guilty Plea and Later Contradictory Testimony on Intent

Text: Morelli's later deposition testimony contradicting his guilty plea cannot create a genuine issue of material fact to survive a motion for summary judgment. A party cannot offer testimony that contradicts the party's earlier statements made under oath to create a genuine issue of material fact. See, e.g., Am. Airlines, Inc. v. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Inc., 114 F.3d 108, 111 (8th Cir.1997); see also Banbury v. Omnitrition Int'l, Inc., 533 N.W.2d 876, 881 (Minn.Ct.App.1995). Contradictory testimony in these instances is typically only allowed when the party was confused and needs to clarify an earlier statement. RSBI Aerospace, Inc. v. Affiliated FM Ins. Co., 49 F.3d 399, 402 (8th Cir.1995); see also Banbury, 533 N.W.2d at 881. For summary judgment purposes, the Minnesota Court of Appeals has held that there is no genuine issue of material fact when party enters a guilty plea admitting an intentional crime and then attempts to contradict his or her own testimony on intent later during a civil suit. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co. v. Kistner, No. A08-2096, 2009 WL 2852618, at  (Minn.Ct.App. Sept. 8, 2009) (unpublished). In Kistner, the court found that allowing a party to enter a guilty plea stating he intentionally hurt someone, and then later allowing contradictory testimony would undermine the core principles of both civil and criminal justice, most notably the valuable procedures of summary judgment and guilty pleas. Id. We find this reasoning sound. Notably, Kistner refused later contradictory testimony on intent to dispute a guilty plea even for purposes of an intentional-act exclusion. Id. at . Morelli's deposition cannot create a genuine issue of material fact for summary judgment purposes, as he does not claim that he pleaded guilty because he was confused, but simply that he lied. Also, Morelli has not attempted to withdraw his contradictory guilty plea. The district court correctly held that Morelli's guilty plea is binding in this case.