Brett Conley and Marina Conley, Appellants and Cross-Appellees v. Alaska Communications Systems Holdings, Inc…

Summary

The Alaska Supreme Court affirmed the judgment for ACS, holding that the superior court properly admitted Conley’s prior work-related incidents for permissible non-propensity purposes at the pretrial stage, that Conley failed to preserve objections to ACS’s later use of the evidence, and that res ipsa loquitur was unwarranted because eyewitnesses provided a complete account of the accident. The court also upheld the denial of directed-verdict, JNOV, and new-trial motions because the jury could reasonably find ACS negligent without finding that its negligence substantially caused Conley’s injuries. Fabe, Chief Justice, dissenting, would have excluded the prior-acts evidence and ordered a new trial because its minimal probative value was outweighed by its prejudicial effect.