Lobo Well Service v. Marion Energy
Filing
320
MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER granting 283 Motion in Limine to Exclude Referenced to Prior or Concurrent Litigation. Signed by Judge Ted Stewart on 4/15/2011. (las)
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF UTAH
CENTRAL DIVISION
LOBO WELL SERVICE, LLC, a Utah
Limited Liability Company,
Plaintiff,
MEMORANDUM DECISION AND
ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S
MOTION IN LIMINE TO EXCLUDE
REFERENCES TO PRIOR OR
CONCURRENT LITIGATION
vs.
MARION ENERGY, INC., a Texas
Corporation,
Case No. 2:07-CV-273 TS
Defendant.
This matter is before the Court on Defendant’s Motion in Limine to Exclude References
to Prior or Concurrent Litigation.1 Defendant seeks the exclusion of any reference to or
introducing any evidence concerning other litigation involving Defendant or instances where
Marion has not paid or made late payments to contractors and vendors. Plaintiff opposes the
Motion on three grounds: (1) “Marion’s involvement in other litigation and Marion’s conduct
leading to the other litigation informs [the issue of whether Marion intended to temporarily or
1
Docket No. 283.
1
permanently stop payment to Lobo], and is relevant as it tends to make it more probable that
Marion never intended to resume paying Lobo.”; (2) “Marion itself has indicated that it will
present evidence that it paid Unit Drilling, the contractor it hired after Lobo, in full, presumably
as evidence that it pays its bills. . . . Lobo must be permitted to discredit that evidence by
showing that Marion’s true practice is quite the opposite.”; and (3) the probative value of the
evidence outweighs any prejudice or jury confusion.2
Fed.R.Evid. 401 broadly defines relevant evidence. Rule 402 declares that relevant
evidence is generally admissible. Rule 403 allows Courts to exclude relevant evidence “if its
probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice [or] confusion of
the issues.”
In putting on its case-in-chief for breach of contract, any reference by Lobo to Marion’s
fee disputes would be irrelevant and potentially be extremely prejudicial towards Marion. Thus,
the Motion will be granted and Lobo Well shall not put on evidence of other instances involving
pay disputes in its case-in-chief.
However, if Marion raises the issue that it timely paid the drilling company that drilled
the well subsequent to Lobo Well’s rigging off the ADS well, then it may be relevant for Lobo to
refer to Marion’s fee disputes with other contractors and vendors. Thus, Lobo may request that
the Court revisit this Motion if Marion opens the door to the issue of its paying its contractors by
its depiction of itself. It is therefore
2
Docket No. 309, at 2-3 (emphasis in original).
2
ORDERED that Defendant’s Motion in Limine to Exclude References to Prior or
Concurrent Litigation (Docket No. 283) is GRANTED.
DATED April 15, 2011.
BY THE COURT:
_____________________________________
TED STEWART
United States District Judge
3
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