Franklin v. Stevenson

1999 UT 61, 987 P.2d 22, 372 Utah Adv. Rep. 10, 1999 Utah LEXIS 95, 1999 WL 398085
Utah Supreme Court·Decided June 18, 1999·No. 970016·Published·Cited by 16 cases

Opinion

HOWE, Chief Justice:

¶ 1 Plaintiff Cherese M. Franklin appeals from a final order granting defendant Kenton Ray Stevenson’s motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict.

BACKGROUND

¶ 2 In 1992, after experiencing inexplicable panic attacks and hearing hallucinatory voices' telling her to kill her infant daughter, Franklin began treatments with a psychologist,. Dr. Laurie Hoover. Franklin’s therapy included relaxation techniques such as deep breathing and self-reflective techniques such as “communicating” with her “inner child.” It was while she was. under Dr. Hoover’s care that Franklin began to “recall” previously “repressed” memories of abuse from her childhood. It is unnecessary for us to recount here the specific allegations of abuse. Suffice ■ it to say the “memories” involved particularly heinous, traumatic acts.

¶ 3 At first, Franklin feared that her father had been the abuser. As her therapy progressed, she focused instéad on Stevenson, á cousin approximately seven years her senior. Once she became convinced that Stevenson had committed the abuse, she filed this action against him. Stevenson’s mother was also named as a party to the suit. Prior to trial, Stevenson filed a motion in limine questioning the reliability of (1) the theory of repressed memory, (2) the therapeutic methods used to recover the memories, and (3) Franklin’s own testimony of her recovered and repressed memories. Additionally, in this motion, Stevenson requested the exclusion of the experts’ testimonies regarding repressed memory in general and Franklin’s memories in particular, based on a lack of inherent reliability. Furthermore, Stevenson requested that the trial court exclude any evidence and testimony — either from the expert witnesses or Franklin herself — derived from the memories that these therapeutic methods “recovered.” The trial court did not rule on this motion until the conclusion of the plaintiffs evidence, when the trial court denied the motion. Following the presentation of all the evidence, Stevenson again moved for exclusion of testimony concerning repressed memory and recovery techniques, as well as any testimony or evidence derived from Franklin’s “recapture of memory.” The trial court also denied this motion. The juiy returned a verdict against Stevenson, but in favor of his mother. 1

¶ 4 Stevenson moved for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict (“j.n.o.v.”) pursuant to Utah Rule of Civil Procedure 50, or in the alternative, a new trial pursuant to Utah Rules of Civil Procedure 50 and 59, or a remittitur. The trial court granted the motion for a j.n.o.v. The court drew a parallel *24 between hypnotic suggestion and communicating with one’s metaphorical inner child and concluded that these therapeutic techniques were “hypnosis-like” in nature. In its order, the court ruled that Franklin “failed to establish, as a matter of law, the inherent reliability of the methods used to recover a memory.” The court excluded this evidence and all related testimony from the record, then determined that insufficient evidence remained to support the jury’s verdict against Stevenson; therefore, the court ruled, he was entitled to a j.n.o.v. Franklin now appeals.

ANALYSIS

¶ 5 Franklin, makes three assignments of error: first, that the trial court erred in striking her testimony following the jury verdict and thereafter granting a j.n.o.v.; second, that the trial court erred in equating hypnosis with the techniques Franklin’s therapist used; third, that Stevenson waived all objections to this testimony by failing to object at the time the testimony was offered. We will address each issue in turn.

I. JUDGMENT NOTWITHSTANDING THE VERDICT

¶ 6 Franklin contends that the trial court erred in granting Stevenson’s motion for a j.n.o.v. In addressing such a motion, a trial court must look at the evidence and all reasonable inferences in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party, granting the j.n.o.v. motion only if this examination demonstrates that there is insufficient evidence to uphold the verdict. See Seale v. Gowans, 923 P.2d 1361 (Utah 1996); Gold Standard, Inc. v. Getty Oil Co., 915 P.2d 1060 (Utah 1996); Hansen v. Stewart, 761 P.2d 14 (Utah 1988); Utah R. Civ. P. 59. On appeal, this court must apply the same standard. See Braithwaite v. West Valley City Corp., 921 P.2d 997 (Utah 1996); Gold Standard, 915 P.2d at 1066; Hansen, 761 P.2d at 17.

A. Abridging or Amending Record when Considering J.N.O.V. Motion

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Franklin v. Stevenson, 1999 UT 61, 987 P.2d 22, 372 Utah Adv. Rep. 10, 1999 Utah LEXIS 95, 1999 WL 398085 (Utah 1999).

1999 UT 61 (Franklin v. Stevenson) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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