Opinion ID: 1631067
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Exclusion of Hunter's driving record

Text: ś 31. Carla sought to have Hunter's driving record admitted at trial. She argues that the trial court erred by excluding the driving record because his record of FMCSR violations showed a pattern and practice of violating the regulations. In his deposition testimony, Hunter admitted that he had received a violation prior to the accident. Hunter's truck was placed out-of-service for a leak in his fuel tank, which he immediately had fixed. ś 32. The trial court excluded the violation, finding that it was not relevant to the issue of the wrongful-death case and too remote in time to have any relevance to the case. Further, the trial court determined that the number and severity of the violations did not demonstrate a routine or practice sufficient to support Carla's arguments. We find that the trial court did not err by excluding Hunter's driving record. The trial court instructed the jury that R & R and Hunter had been negligent for violating FMCSRs. Therefore, the jury knew that R & R and Hunter had violated the regulations. As the fuel leak in question was unrelated in any manner to the accident and whether the absence of reflective tape caused the accident, the trial court properly excluded this evidence pursuant to Rules 401 and 403.