Licciardi v. TIG
Case Date: 04/13/1998
Court: United States Court of Appeals
Docket No: 97-2008
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For the First Circuit No. 97-2008 BECKY J. LICCIARDI, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. TIG INSURANCE GROUP, Defendant, Appellee. APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF RHODE ISLAND [Hon. Mary M. Lisi, U.S. District Judge] Before Selya, Boudin and Lynch, Circuit Judges. Leonard Glazer, with whom Frank E. Glazer, Anthony R. Orlandoand Law Offices of Leonard Glazer were on brief, for appellant. Carol A. Griffin, with whom Mark T. Nugent and Morrison, Mahoney & Miller were on brief, for appellee. April 10, 1998 LYNCH, Circuit Judge. The malfunction of the Free Fall ride in a Rhode Island amusement park caused it to stop unexpectedly on the upper runoff track. The passengers were jolted. One passenger, Becky Licciardi, then 20 years old, complained that her side and ribs hurt and that she was bruised. She later developed a far more serious condition, fibromyalgia, which she believed was caused by the trauma to her from the accident. She sued the park, which was in bankruptcy, and the park's insurer was substituted as defendant. See R.I. Gen. Laws 27-7-1 (1994). After an eight day trial, a jury returned a defense verdict. The defense verdict was procured, however, by trial by ambush tactics: the defense Rule 35 medical expert changed course 180 degrees from his report in his testimony on a key topic at the heart of plaintiff's case. Further, he went into a new area of testimony. There was no prior disclosure of the coming volte face; indeed there was a misrepresentation in the supplemental answer to interrogatories filed two days after the jury was impaneled that the expert's testimony would be the same as in his initial report. Plaintiff's counsel protested in vain, objecting to the testimony, and when that failed, moving for a mistrial and then a new trial. Because we believe the district court abused its discretion in admitting the evidence, we vacate the verdict and remand the case. I. On July 10, 1992, Licciardi and her then-fianc |