Question: This is a wrongful death case brought by the plaintiffs estate against an airline. The deceased, Smith, a college football player, was killed in an
This is a wrongful death case brought by the plaintiffs estate against an airline. The deceased, Smith, a college football player, was killed in an airplane crash during his senior year in college. Smith was a guard on Notre Dames football team. He expected to be drafted by the NFL and play professionally. The estate is suing to recover (among other damages) Smiths lost future earnings as a professional football player. Smith died over the Christmas holidays of his senior year. He had completed four years of college eligibility and had expressions of interest from several NFL teams, but the NFL draft had not yet occurred when he died. He was a starting guard during his junior and senior years and was voted on the All-American second team in his senior year. To prove Smiths expected future earnings as a professional football player, plaintiff seeks to introduce evidence of the contracts five other members of his Notre Dame team who were seniors with Smith received from their NFL teams. These were: (1) Johnson, the starting quarterback in his senior year, was drafted in the 5th round of the NFL draft and received a contract of $1,000,000 for each of three years. (2) Williams, the starting running back for two years and an All-American first team member in his senior year, was drafted in the 1st round of the NFL draft and received a contract of $2,000,000 for each of five years. (3) James, the other starting offensive guard in his senior year, was drafted in the 6th round of the NFL draft and received a contract of $500,000 for each of two years. (4) Henderson, a starting defensive end for two years and an All-American second team member his senior year, was drafted in the 3rd round of the NFL draft and received a contract of $1,000,000 for each of three years. (5) Haynes, a starting defensive back for three years and the punt and kickoff returner and an All- American second team member his senior year, was drafted in the 2nd round of the NFL draft and received a contract of $1,500,000 for each of five years. The defense objects. At a pretrial hearing, the following happens:Judge: This is a hearing on defendant's motion to preclude certain evidence the plaintiff intends to introduce at trial. Defense, what's your objection to this evidence? 1. What objections and motions should be made? 2. What are the best arguments to support the objections? 3. What are the best arguments to oppose the objections? 4. What are the proper rulings? 5. How else could these issues have been resolved?
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