TRENTON, N.J. (Legal Newsline) – A jury was right to rule against a woman bit by her own cat during a scramble with her guest’s dog, according to New Jersey’s Appellate Division.
On Oct. 15, the court ruled against Donna Hopkins, who claimed she was hospitalized from the cat bite. She was appealing the trial court’s ruling against her negligence claim.
She said the jury should have heard evidence that her guest, Bruce Biroc, was intoxicated at the time, even though her lawyer did not seek to introduce evidence of that.
Asked directly by the trial judge if he was alleging Biroc was “intoxicated” or “had been drinking,” Hopkins’ lawyer responded “Had been drinking.”
“Plaintiff offered no supplemental evidence of defendant's alleged intoxication or impairment. Plaintiff proffered the evidence only to show defendant was ‘drinking,’ and not to establish defendant was intoxicated,” the ruling says.
That evidence, then, had no probative value and was properly excluded, the appellate court ruled.
Hopkins and Biroc had been friends since 1998, and Biroc is the godfather to Hopkins’ oldest daughter. In July 2015, he was at the house of Hopkins and her then husband for several hours when, at 7 p.m., he said he “forgot” he left his dog in his car and went to get it.
When he came back, his “little” dog was unleashed and ran to Hopkins.
“Plaintiff explained the dog tried to attack her cat; she attempted to push the dog ‘off of’ her; and, at the same time, she held onto her cat,” the ruling says. “During this time, the cat bit plaintiff’s finger and caused the injuries for which plaintiff sought damages in the complaint.”
Before trial, her lawyer claimed to be preparing to show Biroc had drank “several beers” in the hours leading up to the incident.