In Martin v Our Lady of Wisdom Regional Sch. New York’s  Appellate Division addressed the discretion of a trial court to allowing evidence of prior accidents to establish a party’s negligence.

In April 2009, when the plaintiff was an eighth-grade student at Our Lady of Wisdom Regional School, he and another student were assigned, without supervision, the task of closing a sliding gate to the school parking lot. When the plaintiff hung on the gate as it slid closed, a wheel mechanism at the top of the gate severed the tips of two fingers.

At a trial, the Suffolk County Supreme Court permitted testimony, over the school’s objection, from a retired school nurse detailing other accidents involving the gate, and the jury found the defendants 100% at fault in the happening of the accident. A $600,000 judgment was entered in favor of the plaintiff.

The defendant appealed, arguing that the trial court erred in allowing evidence of the prior accidents. The Appellate Division’s decision addresses situations when proof of prior accidents is admissible and affirmed the decision holding that proof of a prior accident “is admissible only upon a showing that the relevant conditions of the subject accident and the previous one were substantially the same.”

The Appellate Court noted that the plaintiff presented evidence that three other children had injured their hands in accidents involving the gate, which was not significantly altered between the occurrence of those accidents and the plaintiff’s accident. As such, the Court found that the evidence was shown to be reliable and probative on the issues of dangerousness and prior notice, and the Supreme Court did not improvidently exercise its discretion in admitting it.

Thanks to George Parpas for his contribution to this post and please write to Mike Bono for more information.