(l-r) Judges Kevin Emas, Monica Gordo and Alexander Bokor. (Courtesy photos) What Not to Do: $43M Verdict Undone Over Hearsay
"Knowing that this testimony could evoke sympathy in the minds of the jurors, experienced trial lawyers used these improper and highly prejudicial statements to paint a detailed picture—one that graphically illustrated two independent, emotional conversations between a dying mother and her loving sons," Third District Court of Appeal Judge Monica Gordo held in the opinion.
March 28, 2024 at 12:36 PM
5 minute read
What You Need to Know
- Florida's Third District Court of Appeal reversed a $43 million verdict and remanded the case back to the Miami-Dade Circuit Court for a new trial.
- At issue is the Miami-Dade Circuit Court's admittance of inadmissible hearsay statements, which the Third DCA singled out in its opinion.
- In a dissenting opinion, one Third DCA judge argued that other evidence could have supported the statements in, for instance, closing arguments.
Florida's Third District Court of Appeal reversed a $43 million verdict jurors awarded the family of a deceased smoker, over the Miami-Dade Circuit Court's admittance of inadmissible hearsay statements.
In doing so, Third DCA Judge Monica Gordo noted in her concurring opinion in the case involving the plaintiff, the estate of Norma Lipp, that she agreed with the defendant, Philip Morris USA Inc., that Lipp's statements presented through her sons were backward-looking and were not offered for the purpose of showing her state of mind at the time of the conversation.
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