Cigna Ins. Co. v. Evans

In Cigna Ins. Co. v. Evans, 847 S.W.2d 417, 421 (Tex. App.--Texarkana 1993, no writ), a document was offered into evidence for a limited purpose. The document was admitted over Cigna's hearsay objections. The document was then read in its entirety to the jury, but no instruction was requested or given to restrict the jury's consideration of the document to a limited purpose. Id. On appeal, Cigna claimed the document was admitted only for a limited purpose, but this Court found that assertion was not supported by the record. Id. The Court noted that the document was read in its entirety to the jury; that the court did not state it was admitting the document for a limited purpose, nor did it so instruct the jury; and that counsel for Cigna did not request such an instruction or object to its absence. Id. at 421. The Court held that, "In the absence of any directive to the fact finder to consider a piece of evidence only for a limited purpose, the fact finder may consider it for any and all purposes." Id.