BLOODWORTH v. PALMDALE SCHOOL DISTRICT
Personal Injury. Plaintiff broke his neck at Spring football practice when the coaches, who had gone 0-10 the previous year, decided to have their players hit “live” but without the usual equipment, since using equipment in the Spring was against C.I.F. rules. Our opposing counsel used the “blurt out” method of getting around a motion in limine by having one of his witnesses give an answer about our client’s insurance in response to a question about something else. Now, I would ask the judge to dismiss the jury while I voir dired that witness about her preparation by opposing counsel. If she admitted that she had gone over both questions and answers with him, I’d ask for a mistrial and sanctions for all the time put in at trial. Then, my co-counsel and I both thought we were winning and didn’t take that tack. We represented the plaintiff in this case and lost.