McConnell v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

995 F. Supp. 2d 1164, 2014 WL 464799, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14280
CourtDistrict Court, D. Nevada
DecidedFebruary 5, 2014
DocketNo. 2:12-CV-01601-RCJ-PAL
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 995 F. Supp. 2d 1164 (McConnell v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Nevada primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McConnell v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 995 F. Supp. 2d 1164, 2014 WL 464799, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14280 (D. Nev. 2014).

Opinion

ORDER

ROBERT C. JONES, District Judge.

This is a slip-and-fall case. Pending before the Court are two Motions in Limine (ECF Nos. 47, 48). For the reasons given herein, the Court grants the motions in part and denies them in part.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On or about December 10, 2010, Plaintiff Urban McConnell slipped, fell, and injured himself at the Wal-Mart store at 8060 W. Tropical Pkwy., Las Vegas, Nevada after an employee mopped the floor and left water thereupon without blocking access to the area or warning customers. (Compl. ¶¶ 5-9, Aug. 7, 2012, ECF No. 1-2). Defendant removed and moved for summary judgment as against the claim for punitive damages. Plaintiff stipulated to dismiss the prayer for punitive damages, and the Court therefore denied the motion as moot, noting that it would have been inclined to grant it. A jury trial is set for February 18, 2014 in Las Vegas. Defendant has now filed two motions in limine.

II. LEGAL STANDARDS

A motion in limine is a procedural device to obtain an early and preliminary ruling on the admissibility of evidence. Black’s Law Dictionary defines it as “[a] pretrial request that certain inadmissible evidence not be referred to or offered at trial. Typically, a party makes this motion when it believes that mere mention of the evidence during trial would be highly prejudicial and could not be remedied by an instruction to disregard.” Black’s Law Dictionary 1109 (9th ed. 2009). Although the Federal Rules of Evidence do not explicitly authorize a motion in limine, the Supreme Court has held that trial judges are authorized to rule on motions in limine pursuant to their authority to manage trials. See Luce v. United States, 469 U.S. 38, 41 n. 4, 105 S.Ct. 460, 83 L.Ed.2d 443 (1984) (citing Fed.R.Evid. 103(c) (providing that trial should be conducted so as to “prevent inadmissible evidence from being suggested to the jury by any means”)).

Judges have broad discretion when ruling on motions in limine. See Jenkins v. Chrysler Motors Corp., 316 F.3d 663, 664 (7th Cir.2002). However, a motion in limine should not be used to resolve factual disputes or weigh evidence. See C & E Servs., Inc. v. Ashland, Inc., 539 F.Supp.2d 316, 323 (D.D.C.2008). To exclude evidence on a motion in limine “the evidence must be inadmissible on all potential grounds.” E.g., Ind. Ins. Co. v. Gen. Elec. Co., 326 F.Supp.2d 844, 846 (N.D.Ohio 2004). “Unless evidence meets this high standard, evidentiary rulings should be deferred until trial so that questions of foundation, relevancy and potential prejudice may be resolved in proper con[1168]*1168text.” Hawthorne Partners v. AT & T Tech., Inc., 831 F.Supp. 1398, 1400 (N.D.Ill.1993). This is because although rulings on motions in limine may save “time, costs, effort and preparation, a court is almost always better situated during the actual trial to assess the value and utility of evidence.” Wilkins v. Kmart Corp., 487 F.Supp.2d 1216, 1219 (D.Kan.2007).

In limine rulings are preliminary and therefore “are not binding on the trial judge [who] may always change his mind during the' course of a trial.” Ohler v. United States, 529 U.S. 753, 758 n. 3, 120 S.Ct. 1851, 146 L.Ed.2d 826 (2000); accord Luce, 469 U.S. at 41, 105 S.Ct. 460 (noting that in limine rulings are always subject to change, especially if the evidence unfolds in an unanticipated manner). “Denial of a motion in limine does not necessarily mean that all evidence contemplated by the motion will be admitted to trial. Denial merely means that without the context of trial, the court is unable to determine whether the evidence in question should be excluded.” Ind. Ins. Co., 326 F.Supp.2d at 846.

III. ANALYSIS

A. Motion No. 47

Defendant seeks to exclude Plaintiffs proffered expert, John Peterson, because he is not qualified as an expert and because his testimony will be irrelevant. Mr. Peterson is offered as an expert in the area of the standard of care. Mr. Peterson’s curriculum vitae indicates that his area of expertise is better described as loss (theft) prevention. In response, Plaintiff argues that Mr. Peterson is an expert in the area of retail safety and that his proffered testimony satisfies Rule 702 under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 113 S.Ct. 2786, 125 L.Ed.2d 469 (1993) because it is based upon his personal knowledge and experience. Plaintiff admits that Mr. Peterson has no formal education in the area of safety but argues that his experience qualifies him as an expert under Rule 702. As a rebuttal to Defendant’s argument that Mr. Peterson has previously been rejected as an expert in the present context in Nevada state court, Plaintiff adduces as Exhibits 1 and 2 copies of orders: (1) denying a motion in limine to exclude Mr. Peterson as an expert in Arizona state court; and (2) accepting Mr. Peterson as an expert in retail safety in a case in this District. Plaintiff also adduces as Exhibit 3 Mr. Peterson’s report itself, which includes a list of his qualifications. The fact that Mr. Peterson has been accepted as an expert by some judges and rejected by others indicates that the question of his expertise in the present context is a close one, and the Court also notes that copies of orders denying the preliminary exclusion of Mr. Peterson’s proffered expert testimony are no evidence of his ultimate admission as an expert at trial. Although Plaintiff argues that Mr. Peterson received some safety-related training at Wal-Mart and even provided the training to other employees, it is not clear whether this kind of training was a significant portion of Mr. Peterson’s duties at Wal-Mart, or if it was simply incidental to his employment, i.e., such as anti-discrimination or first-aid training all employees at a company might receive from their employer. Plaintiff does not appear to claim that Mr. Peterson ever held a title such as “Safety Officer,” but does appear to claim that as a loss prevention officer, part of his formal duties included customer safety. It is simply not clear at this time whether Mr. Peterson’s experience in the retail industry includes significant or only incidental knowledge of safety procedures. The Court would therefore normally not exclude an expert whose qualifications were simply doubtful at this stage, but would require the rele[1169]*1169vant party to show that he is qualified as an expert at trial.

However, in the present case, even assuming Mr. Peterson were qualified as an expert, his testimony would largely be more confusing than helpful to the jury. The Court will of course instruct the jury on the standard of care, and it is for the jury to consider whether Defendant acted reasonably.

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Bluebook (online)
995 F. Supp. 2d 1164, 2014 WL 464799, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14280, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcconnell-v-wal-mart-stores-inc-nvd-2014.