Gregory Chandler on Habit Evidence

Sims v. Great Am. Life Ins. Company, 469 F. 3d 870 (2006)

In an action against a life insurer who refused to pay on the ground that the insured committed suicide, the insurer attempted to prove the decedent's state of mind by showing that he was not wearing a seat belt (although he habitually did) at the time of his one-car accident. Affirming in part a judgment for the plaintiff, the Court held it was error (but harmless) to exclude the habit evidence. Because "the very nature of habit evidence is that it is done reflexively," the evidence would be probative on the question whether he failed to buckle up because he was suicidal or because he was intoxicated.

GREGORY CHANDLER, Attorney at Law