Depoy v. The Trustees of the Gill Odd Fellows' Home of Vermont ( 2013 )


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  • Depoy et. al. v. The Trustees of the Gill Odd Fellows’ Home of Vermont, No. 155-3-11 Wrcv (Teachout, J., Nov. 26, 2013).
    [The text of this Vermont trial court opinion is unofficial. It has been reformatted from the original. The accuracy of the text
    and the accompanying data included in the Vermont trial court opinion database is not guaranteed.]
    STATE OF VERMONT
    SUPERIOR COURT                                                                          CIVIL DIVISION
    Windsor Unit                                                                            Docket No. 155-3-11 Wrcv
    TRICIA DEPOY and
    NANCY GRATTAN,
    Plaintiffs,
    v.
    THE TRUSTEES OF THE GILL ODD
    FELLOWS’ HOME OF VERMONT,
    Defendant.
    DECISION
    Defendant’s Motion in Limine (Hearsay Testimony from Plaintiff Depoy’s
    Husband) (Motion #14)
    At his deposition on March 20, 2012, Plaintiff Tricia Depoy’s husband, Dr. Cecil
    Beehler, testified that he had overheard Plaintiff Depoy say that she would have returned
    to work for Defendant if she were guaranteed a safe and nonhostile place to work (the
    “Statement”) during a conversation with Defendant’s attorney.1 Dr. Beehler was unsure
    of the exact date Plaintiff Depoy made the Statement, but was certain that she made it
    sometime after January 24, 2011, the date Defendant accepted Plaintiff Depoy’s
    resignation.
    Through a motion in limine filed September 6, 2013, Defendant requested an
    order precluding Plaintiff Depoy from offering any testimony from Dr. Beehler about the
    Statement or making any reference at trial to the Statement. Defendant alleged that Dr.
    Beehler’s testimony regarding the Statement constituted inadmissible hearsay. Plaintiff
    Depoy objected to Defendant’s motion in limine on September 20, 2013, arguing that Dr.
    Beehler’s testimony about the Statement was admissible because it demonstrated Plaintiff
    Depoy’s then-existing state of mind.
    On September 25, 2013, Defendant filed a reply, asserting that Dr. Beehler’s
    testimony about the Statement did not show Plaintiff’s then-existing state of mind
    because it addressed her earlier state of mind from the time of her resignation. Defendant
    further argued that Dr. Beehler’s testimony about the Statement was irrelevant and
    cumulative of Plaintiff Depoy’s own testimony regarding her resignation.
    1
    Specifically, according to Dr. Beehler, Plaintiff Depoy stated that “All she wanted was a safe and
    nonhostile place to work.” Pl. Exh. 1, filed Sept. 20, 2013, 99:3-4.
    ANALYSIS
    V.R.E. 803 establishes that “[a] statement of the declarant’s then-existing state of
    mind, emotion, sensation, or physical condition…, but not including a statement of
    memory or belief to prove the fact remembered or believed” is excluded from the hearsay
    rule. V.R.E. 803(3). Accordingly, statements regarding a declarant’s then-existing state
    of mind are generally admissible. However, the party attempting to have such statements
    admitted must show that “(1) the statement was contemporaneous with the mental state to
    be proved, (2) the declarant had no time to fabricate or misrepresent thoughts, and (3) the
    state of mind is relevant to an issue in the case.” State v. Verrinder, 
    161 Vt. 250
    , 259
    (1993).
    Here, although Plaintiff Depoy’s state of mind at the time of her resignation from
    Defendant is arguably relevant, the Statement does not satisfy the first and second
    requirements from Verrinder. The conversation where Plaintiff Depoy made the
    Statement occurred after she had resigned from Defendant. Her state of mind at that time
    is irrelevant in this case because Plaintiff Depoy had already resigned and her feelings
    towards Defendant or about her resignation could have changed since January 24, 2011.
    The Statement also implies that Plaintiff Depoy resigned from Defendant because
    she felt that it was an unsafe and hostile work environment at the time of her resignation.
    This state of mind is relevant because it tends to prove Plaintiff Depoy’s reasons for
    resigning. However, the Statement cannot be admitted to demonstrate Plaintiff Depoy’s
    earlier state of mind.
    V.R.E. 803(3) specifically excludes “a statement of memory or belief to prove the
    fact remembered or believed” from its scope. V.R.E. 803(3). In this case, Plaintiff
    Depoy wants to admit the Statement, which expresses her memory regarding how she felt
    about the work environment at Defendant when she resigned, to prove that she felt that
    way at the time of her resignation. The Statement cannot be admitted for this purpose
    because it constitutes hearsay. Accordingly, Defendant’s Motion in Limine must be
    granted.
    ORDER
    Defendant’s Motion in Limine is hereby granted.
    Dated at Woodstock, Vermont, this ___ day of November, 2013.
    Honorable Mary Miles Teachout
    Superior Court Judge
    2
    

Document Info

Docket Number: 155

Filed Date: 11/26/2013

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 4/24/2018