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Accu-Fab & Construction3/14/2000
ssissippi Power Co., 693 So. 2d 359, 365 (Miss. 1997)) (other citations omitted). Further, for a case to be reversed on the admission or exclusion of evidence, it must result in prejudice and harm or adversely affect a substantial right of a party. Terrain Enter., Inc. v. Mockbee, 654 So. 2d 1122, 1131 (Miss. 1995).
. Anderson and Accu-Fab have not suggested, nor does the record establish, that a substantial right was violated by the exclusion of this evidence. There is no evidence in the record which would suggest that Ladner suffered from an impairment which caused or contributed to his own injuries. Absent this necessary foundation, the trial court properly excluded this evidence. See Holladay v. Tutor, 465 So. 2d 337, 338 (Miss. 1985) (finding a box of marijuana and quaaludes found in defendant's car was not relevant and its only purpose was to prejudice the jury); see also Pope v. McGee, 403 So. 2d 1269, 1271 (Miss. 1981) (excluding evidence of two six packs of beer and an unidentified white powder found in defendant's car because they offered no proof on proximate causation of the collision, and its prejudicial value greatly outweighed its probative value).
. With our sustaining the trial court's ruling that the drug tests were inadmissible, the issue of the marijuana found in the decedent's pants pocket becomes moot. With there being no evidence that Ladner was affected in his work by the influence of drugs -- thus rendering the drug tests irrelevant -- we likewise find that the contents of Ladner's pockets were irrelevant and without proper foundation. See Mockbee, 654 So. 2d at 1131.
. Accu-Fab also argues that the trial court improperly excluded Ladner's 1980 criminal conviction for possession of a controlled substance with the intent to deliver. Accu-Fab contends it should have been allowed to admit this evidence relative to the decedent's future earning capacity during the economist testimony presented by Ladner. The trial court entered an order excluding this evidence, holding that such evidence was irrelevant to the issues involved in the case at bar. Ladner argues that the evidence of the prior criminal conviction was properly excluded under Mississippi Rules of Evidence 609. This Court notes that with the exception of the distinguishable Fifth Circuit case of Carroll v. Morgan, 17 F.3d 787 (5th Cir. 1994), Accu-Fab has failed to cite authoritative law for this state, to support its position on admissibility of Ladner's prior conviction to show its effect on his future earning potential. As aforementioned, the point of law for which Accu-fab has cited the fifth circuit case of Carroll, is factually distinguishable from the case at bar.
. In Carroll, Accu-fab supports its position for the admission of Ladner's prior conviction, based on the holding of the court that a doctor was allowed to give expert opinion testimony on plaintiff's decedents intemperance to show decedent was not healthy and this previous condition might have resulted in a reduced life expectancy. Id. at 791. This case is distinguishable from the case at bar, because Carroll dealt with the admission of expert opinion testimony entered into evidence in the realm of medical testimony and was relevant to the patient's possible cause of death. In the case at bar, we are dealing with the admissibility of a fifteen year-old prior criminal conviction which has no relevance to the patients cause of death. With this distinction having been made, and after researching this state's law, we can find no law which supports Accu-fab's argument; therefore, we find this issue to be without merit.
V. WHETHER OSHA REGULATIONS WERE ADMISSIBLE AS EVIDENCE OF NEGLIGENCE.
. Ande
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