Court Opinion

ID: 4713174
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2021-08-12 00:39:02.419262+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:07:16.360282
License: Public Domain

¶19 (concurring in dissent) — I agree with Justice Sanders that the trial court erred in instruct*488ing the jury that Jessy and Editha Ang had to prove that they were actually innocent of the crime charged in order to prevail in their legal malpractice claim against attorneys Richard Hansen and Michael Martin. For that reason, we should reverse the Court of Appeals and remand to the trial court for a new trial on the Angs’ claim against Martin.
Alexander, C.J.
*488¶20 I write separately because, in my view, we should not stop with a determination that the trial court erred but should go further to indicate that the defendant attorney may raise the issue of the plaintiff’s actual guilt in the criminal case as an affirmative defense. That was the position taken by the Supreme Court of Alaska in a similar case, Shaw v. Department of Administration, 861 P.2d 566 (Alaska 1993). There, the court said that because plaintiffs in such actions must already bear the burden of proving that they have obtained postconviction relief from their criminal convictions, they should not have to prove their “actual innocence.” Id. at 572. The court went on to indicate, however, that the defendant may raise the issue of the plaintiff’s “actual guilt” as an affirmative defense and seek to establish it by a preponderance of the evidence. Although the Alaska court did not engage in an extensive discussion of its reasons for placing the burden on the defendant to establish this affirmative defense, it did indicate that putting the burden there is consistent with the requirement that defendants establish traditional affirmative defenses that look to plaintiffs’ actions such as contributory/comparative negligence and assumption of the risk. The Alaska rule makes perfect sense to me for that reason and for the additional reason that it is consonant with the traditional notion that one is presumed innocent until proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Furthermore, shifting the burden to the defendant relieves the plaintiff of the almost impossible burden of proving innocence while at the same time addressing the policy concern noted by the majority, that criminals should not benefit from “their own bad acts.” Majority at 485.
Ireland, J. Pro Tern., concurs with Alexander, C.J.