Palmer v. Krueger
United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
897 F.2d 1529 (1990)
- Written by Kyli Cotten, JD
Facts
Virginia and William Krueger were killed when the airplane they owned crashed. Virginia’s daughter and executrix, Debra Palmer (plaintiff), sued William’s estate, which was represented by his son and executor, Richard Krueger (defendant), for wrongful death. During cross-examination, Krueger made a remark as to the morality of Palmer bringing the suit against a family member. Palmer’s counsel then made an offer of proof to go into a line of questioning that would have revealed that the discord between the parties began when Krueger refused to split the insurance proceeds from the airplane and made disparaging remarks about Palmer’s deceased mother. The court declined this line of questioning about the matter, stating on record that the explanation for family discord was a collateral issue to the case and that mentioning insurance proceeds would cause unfair prejudice against Krueger. The jury returned a verdict for Krueger. Palmer’s motion for a new trial was denied. Palmer appealed, arguing that her right of cross-examination was erroneously abridged by the ruling.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Henley, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,400 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
