Fry v. Blauvelt

• Decision Date: 10 August 2012
• Docket Number: No. 10–1336.,10–1336.
• Citation: 818 N.W.2d 123
• Parties: Abbey FRY, Appellee, v. Andrew BLAUVELT d/b/a Bluefield Trust Construction, Appellant.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

818 N.W.2d 123

Abbey FRY, Appellee,

v.Andrew BLAUVELT d/b/a Bluefield Trust Construction, Appellant.

No. 10–1336.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

July 13, 2012.

Rehearing Denied Aug. 10, 2012.

Michael J. Moreland and Heather M. Simplot of Harrison, Moreland & Webber, P.C., Ottumwa, for appellant.

Richard S. Bordwell, and Trevaniel J. Temple of Bordwell Law Office, P.L.C., Washington, and Larry J. Brock (until withdrawal), for appellee.

ZAGER, Justice.

In this breach of contract case, we consider whether the district court erred in denying the defendant's motion for a new trial based on several rulings by the district court that the defendant claims materially affected his rights and denied him a fair trial. The district court refused the defendant's request to exclude exhibits disclosed by the plaintiff the day before trial in violation of the district court's pretrial scheduling order. Additionally, the district court refused the request to declare a mistrial when the plaintiff testified to certain matters in violation of the district court's stipulated ruling on a motion in limine and denied the defendant's motion for a directed verdict. The court of appeals reversed and remanded for a new trial because it concluded the district court abused its discretion in admitting the exhibits into evidence. On further review, we vacate the decision of the court of appeals and affirm the judgment of the district court.

I. Factual and Procedural Background.

Based on the evidence produced at trial, the jury could have found the following facts. In August 2008, plaintiff, Abbey Fry (Fry), hired the defendant, Andrew Blauvelt d/b/a Bluefield Trust Construction (Bluefield), to remodel her home in Ollie, Iowa. After some negotiating, Fry and Bluefield entered into an oral contract in which Bluefield agreed to extend Fry's kitchen, add a master bedroom with a bath and closet, add a hallway, and add a garage with a basement below. The estimated cost to complete the project was $101,250. No agreement was reached as to the time of completion, although Fry wanted the project completed within six months. Bluefield broke ground on or around September 28, 2008.

Work initially proceeded at a relatively rapid pace with weekly payment applications by Bluefield showing work performed and subsequent payments by Fry. The contractual relationship between the parties began to sour in late December when the project foreman left for a month-long vacation. After the foreman left, Fry became increasingly dissatisfied with the progress of the project and eventually ordered Bluefield off the job in January 2009.

After firing Bluefield, Fry hired S.R.S. Construction to complete the project. Chad Evans, the owner of S.R.S. Construction, testified that S.R.S. Construction did some electrical work, put a doorway in, installed a window, worked on the flooring, and performed other work on the addition. Aside from the work it did perform, S.R.S. Construction submitted a bid in the amount of $24,650 which was its estimated cost to complete the addition. It also submitted another bid in the amount of $32,480 to repair the roof of the garage that was, according to Evans, defectively constructed.

Fry filed a breach of contract claim against Bluefield in April 2009. Fry claimed Bluefield failed to perform under the contract, and as a result of this failure to perform, she incurred expenses and suffered damages. Specifically, Fry sought damages for the cost to complete the project according to the original oral contract between the parties. She also sought damages as a result of construction delays she claimed were caused by Bluefield.

Prior to trial, Bluefield filed a motion in limine. The motion sought to prohibit Fry from “mentioning, discussing, or asking any witness” about an allegation of repair fraud involving one of Bluefield's projects in Mississippi. The motion also sought to exclude any evidence or testimony relating to one of Bluefield's projects located in Wellman, Iowa involving an allegedly unhappy customer. By stipulation of the parties, the district court granted the motion.

By pretrial order, trial in this matter was set for June 29, 2010. The pretrial order also required the parties to exchange complete exhibit and witness lists no later than seven days before trial. On June 22, Fry faxed her initial exhibit list to Bluefield which listed sixteen items, many of which were designated simply as “photographs.” The day before trial, Fry filed an amended exhibit list that included one hundred and eighty-three exhibits. The last eight exhibits contained fifteen photographs, none of which were previously disclosed to Bluefield. The fifteen photographs allegedly depicted a “water leak on June 1 [and 2], 2010,” and a “millipede invasion on June 18, 2010,” that occurred in Fry's home.

On the morning of trial, Bluefield requested the district court exclude the eight exhibits from evidence. Bluefield argued the exhibits should be excluded from evidence because Fry failed to disclose the photographs in accordance with the pretrial order. Bluefield further argued that the photographs would inflame the jury and that it needed time to consult an expert to investigate the cause of the leak and infestation. Fry's counsel responded that the photographs were not previously disclosed because the water leak and millipede problem were recent developments. He also asserted that expert testimony was unnecessary. The district court reserved judgment, and the trial began. During Fry's testimony, the district court denied Bluefield's motion to exclude the untimely disclosed exhibits. The district court explained that, although it agreed that Bluefield's concerns were “legitimate,” the court thought the concerns could “adequately be addressed through cross-examination of the plaintiff or the plaintiff's witnesses, and/or through presentation of [Bluefield's] evidence.”

During recross-examination of Fry, Bluefield's attorney attempted to undermine the probative value of the photographs by calling attention to the eighteen month gap between the time Bluefield stopped working on the project and the time the water leak and millipede problems arose. The following exchange took place:

Q. [W]e're now 18 months after you fired Andy and you're having a problem that you're relating back to something that he did 18 months ago; is that right? A. Because he's the one that set the wall, yes. The wall that has a terrible leak, that's full of foam that I had to put to keep the mice from coming in in the winter for two years now. The wall is incorrect. Not just the door.

Q. Any of the problems that you've had, you haven't fixed those problems? A. I have no money to fix those problems.

Q. And that's because Andrew blew all your money? Is that right? A. He didn't use it where he was supposed to, and I'm pretty sure he used it on other jobs because he was behind on them jobs too. He doesn't know how to manage money very well.

Q. What's the basis of that opinion? A. He's filed bankruptcy many times.

Q. Yeah. All right. A. A lawsuit down in Mississippi on another house. One in Wellman that's very unhappy with her job site, too.

Q. Are you going to call those people to testify? A. I did, but you won't let them.

(Emphasis added.) Bluefield's attempt to undermine the value of the photographs during recross-examination thus led to the introduction of testimony that was previously held inadmissible by the district court's ruling on Bluefield's motion in limine. On Bluefield's motion, the district court struck the improper remarks from the record and directed the jury “not to consider those answers.” Bluefield moved for a mistrial, which the district court denied.

The jury subsequently returned a verdict in Fry's favor. On July 14, 2010, Bluefield filed a motion for new trial on several grounds. Bluefield first alleged the admission of the untimely disclosed exhibits—specifically, the photographs of the water leak and millipede problem—prevented him from receiving a fair trial and affected his substantial rights. Bluefield also alleged that the court committed error when it refused to grant a mistrial after Fry violated the district court ruling on the motion in limine. Bluefield claims this violation prevented him from receiving a fair trial and thus warranted a new trial. Bluefield also argued other errors by the district court warranted a new trial. The district court denied the motion for new trial on all grounds, and Bluefield appealed.

The court of appeals reversed and remanded for a new trial. The court of appeals reasoned the district court abused its discretion in admitting the late-disclosed exhibits because the late disclosure prejudiced Bluefield's defense. The court of appeals further noted that Fry did not seek damages with respect to the water leak or millipede problem and therefore the photographs were irrelevant to the breach of contract claim. The court reasoned that the admission of the photographs prevented Bluefield from receiving a fair trial under Iowa Rule of Civil Procedure1.1004. Fry requested further review, which we granted.

II. Scope of Review.

“We review the denial of a motion for new trial based on the grounds asserted in the motion.” Estate of Long ex rel. Smith v. Broadlawns Med. Ctr., 656 N.W.2d 71, 88 (Iowa 2002), abrogated on other grounds by Thompson v. Kaczinski, 774 N.W.2d 829, 836 (Iowa 2009); see also Ladeburg v. Ray, 508 N.W.2d 694, 696 (Iowa 1993). “Ultimately, ‘we are reluctant to interfere with a jury verdict’ or the district court's consideration of a motion for new trial made in response to the verdict.” Estate of Long, 656 N.W.2d at 88 (citation omitted). We review a district court's denial of a motion to exclude untimely disclosed exhibits for abuse of discretion. Cf. Olson v. Nieman's, Ltd., 579 N.W.2d 299, 305 (Iowa 1998). “If the motion [for a new trial] is based on a discretionary ground such as misconduct it is reviewed for an abuse...