Latest Case: Nolan v. Billings Clinic (Personal Injury)

Should Acquittals Require Unanimity?

SHERRY F. COLB

Cornell law professor Sherry F. Colb considers the policy question of whether, since the Constitution requires jury unanimity to convict a defendant of a serious crime, states should require a unanimous verdict to acquit a defendant, as well. Colb describes the reasons behind jury unanimity convictions and assesses whether they apply similarly to acquittals.

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Nolan v. Billings Clinic

Citation: 2020 MT 167

Opinion Date: June 30, 2020

Judge: Beth Baker

Areas of Law: Personal Injury

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court in favor of the Billings Clinic on the negligence claim brought by Plaintiffs Nancy Nolan and her husband Thomas Garrity after Nolan slipped and fell on ice and snow near the Clinic's entrance, holding that there was no abuse of discretion. Specifically, the Supreme Court held that the district court did not abuse its discretion when it (1) did not impose further sanctions on the Clinic for its failure to preserve video evidence; (2) admitted a weather report through Garrity, who had no personal knowledge of the report; (3) refused to allow Plaintiffs to introduce evidence of other falls on the Clinic's premises; and (4) refused to give Plaintiffs' proposed jury instruction on a Billings municipal ordinance regarding snow removal without evidence that the Clinic received a citation for violating the Municipal Code.