A trial judge who refuses to hear submissions on a credit issue but then uses an adverse finding on that issue to assess a party's credibility on the central factual dispute denies procedural fairness. Where the credit finding played an important part in the judge's assessment, it cannot be said that a properly conducted trial could not possibly have produced a different result, and a new trial must be ordered. A judge's discretion to admit evidence after the close of a party's case miscarries where the admission occurs near the end of addresses without reasons and in circumstances where the resulting prejudice cannot be cured by adjournment.
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