Havens v. State

Steven K. Havens (Havens) sued the State of Montana (State) claiming the State’s negligence in failing to install a stop light at the main entrance to the Wal-Mart store located in Butte, Montana, was a cause of the motorcycle/automobile collision in which he received injuries. The State contended that Havens was contributorily negligent because his ability to react was impaired due to his consumption of alcohol prior to the accident. Havens filed a motion in limine seeking to exclude evidence of his alcohol consumption on the day of the accident and objected at trial to the introduction of…