Cannon v. Lucas
Annotate this CaseAt approximately 10:15 p.m., on November 16, 2015, Michael Cannon and Zachary Lucas were involved in a motor-vehicle accident on an unlit portion of Interstate 22 in Alabama when Cannon's vehicle collided with Lucas and the motorcycle he had been riding. In 2017, Lucas filed a complaint against Cannon alleging negligence and wantonness/recklessness and seeking damages for the various injuries he allegedly had sustained as a result of that accident. Lucas proceeded to trial solely on his negligence claim. After a four-day trial in 2019, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Lucas and awarded him $18 million in compensatory damages. Cannon filed a motion for a judgment as a matter of law, for a new trial, or for a remittitur, asserting, among other things, that the trial court had erred by refusing to permit Cannon to present evidence of Lucas's 2018 conviction for presenting a forged drug prescription. After Lucas responded, the trial court conducted a hearing. Thereafter, the motion was denied by operation of law. The Alabama Supreme Court concluded that the trial court erred in granting Lucas's motion in limine to exclude evidence regarding his 2018 conviction for presenting a forged drug prescription. Because the trial court erred in ruling that Cannon could not present such evidence at trial, the Court concluded it also erred in denying Cannon's motion for a new trial.
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