Opinion ID: 1662097
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Gender Discrimination Suit Evidence

Text: Smulls next claims the motion court erred in excluding certain evidence related to a 1982 gender discrimination suit against Judge Corrigan that resulted in a judgment against him as reported in Goodwin v. Circuit Court of St. Louis County, 729 F.2d 541 (8th Cir.1984). The evidence consisted of: 1) an affidavit from the plaintiff in that case to the effect that Judge Corrigan accurately identified her as white, and 2) docket sheets reflecting that the case was heard by an African-American judge. The purported relevancy of this evidence was that it tended to show that Judge Corrigan could identify the race of a party when he so chose, and demonstrat[ed] and prove[d] why Corrigan approximately one year later told the barbecue joke. These matters were not pled as part of the Rule 29.15 motion, and the evidence was properly excluded for that reason. Even if those matters were properly pled, the relevancy of the evidence is tenuous, especially in light of this Court's holding in the original Smulls opinion that the gender discrimination suit in question did not disqualify Judge Corrigan from hearing gender- Batson claims. State v. Smulls, 935 S.W.2d at 16-17.