Judge James Brady declared a mistrial this afternoon in the Utah medical malpractice case of Heath v. Kallas during the testimony of plaintiff’s final witness, the plaintiff herself, Rebecca Heath. (See my August 31st blog post for background on the case.)
The plaintiff testified that she sought a religious blessing from a home teacher after her gallbladder surgery and before she returned to the hospital in distress two days later. This was problematic.
There had been a motion in limine by the defense addressing issues with raising plaintiff’s religious beliefs, and an order had been entered by Judge Brady prohibiting most– but not all– references to plaintiff’s beliefs or actions taken in reliance on them.
Motion in Limine
Memorandum in Opposition
Reply Memorandum
Ruling on Motion in Limine
The Court considered the “blessing” testimony to be in violation of his order, and one not amenable to a curative instruction. Thus, the motion for mistrial was granted.
The trial will now have to be rescheduled.
