JURY INSTRUCTION DRAFTS - March 2000
Damages (In General)
Life Expectancy
Life Expectancy (Wrongful Death)
Registration Requirement (Sexual Offenders and Offenders Against Children)
Sex Discrimination (Hostile Work Environment)
Sudden Emergency
(If you have suggestions for the Pattern Jury Instruction Commission concerning instructions that need revision or developing, please contact: Lynn Kerbeshian, 2575 So. 35th St., Grand Forks, ND 58201; (701)775-6220; jkerbesh@medicine.nodak.edu.)
Comparative Fault
You will return a special verdict in which you will make special findings of fact determining:
1) who was at fault, if anyone;
2) whether such fault was a proximate cause of damages;
3) the respective percentages of fault allocated to the Defendant[s], the Plaintiff, or anyone else who contributed to proximately cause any damages;
4) the amount of Plaintiff's [or Defendant's[s']] damages without reduction for fault.
The court will determine from your special verdict form the amount of damages, if any, which are recoverable.
NDCC 32-03.2-02
NOTE: The current comparative fault statutes no longer indicate whether the Court or counsel may instruct or comment on the effect of the verdict. However, NDCC 32-03.2-02 states that the Plaintiff's fault does not bar a recovery of damages for death or injury to person or property unless the fault was a great as the combined fault of all other persons who contribute to the injury, but any damages allowed must be reduced in proportion to the Plaintiff's fault.
Damages
(In General)
Before you consider the question of damages, you must first find a party is entitled to damages. If you find a party is entitled to damages, you should award such damages as are proportionate to the harm or loss suffered. Simply because the attorneys discuss damages, or I talk about them in these instructions, does not mean anyone is necessarily entitled to damages.
Life Expectancy
[The Decedent, _______________, was ____ years of age at the time of the mishap.] [The Plaintiff, _______________, is ____ years of age at the time of this trial.] According to the American Experience Table of Mortality, the life expectancy of an individual, ____ years of age is _____ years. This fact, of which the Court takes judicial notice, is now in evidence to be considered by you in arriving at the amount of damages, if any, to be awarded in the event you find that the Plaintiff is entitled to a verdict on [the Claim for Relief].
However, the restricted significance of this evidence should be noted. Life expectancy, as shown by a mortality table, is merely an estimate of the probable average remaining length of life of all individuals in our country of a given age, based on not a complete but limited record of experience. Therefore, the inference that may be drawn from the life expectancy shown by the table applies only to one who has the average health and exposure to danger of people of that age. Thus, in considering the life expectancy of any individual, you should consider, in addition to what is shown by the table of mortality, all other facts and circumstances in evidence bearing on [Decedent's] life expectancy (including occupation, activities, habits, and state of health) at the time of the mishap.
NDCC 31-08-05
Symington v. Mayo, 1999 ND 48, 590 NW2d 450
Miller v. Breidenbach, 520 NW2d 869 (ND 1994)
Life Expectancy
(Wrongful Death)
The Decedent, _______________, was ____ years of age at the time of the mishap. The Plaintiff, _______________, was ____ years of age at the time of the mishap. According to the American Experience Table of Mortality, the life expectancy of an individual, ____ years of age is _____ years, and the life expectancy of an individual, ____ years of age is ____ years. This fact, of which the Court takes judicial notice, is now in evidence to be considered by you in arriving at the amount of damages, if any, to be awarded in the event you find that the Plaintiff is entitled to a verdict on [the Claim for Relief].
However, the restricted significance of this evidence should be noted. Life expectancy, as shown by a mortality table, is merely an estimate of the probable average remaining length of life of all individuals in our country of a given age, based on not a complete but limited record of experience. Therefore, the inference that may be drawn from the life expectancy shown by the table applies only to one who has the average health and exposure to danger of people of that age. Thus, in considering the life expectancy of any individual, you should consider, in addition to what is shown by the table of mortality, all other facts and circumstances in evidence bearing on [Decedent's] life expectancy (including occupation, activities, habits, and state of health) at the time of the mishap.
The life expectancy of both the Decedent and the Plaintiff are relevant factors. The Plaintiff's recovery is limited to an award based on the life expectancy of the shorter of the Decedent's or the Plaintiff's life expectancy, because no contribution to the Plaintiff can be presumed beyond the actuarial life expectancy of either the Decedent or the Plaintiff.
NDCC 31-08-05; 32-21-02
Schneider v. Baisch, 256 NW2d 370 (ND 1977)
Registration Requirement
(Sexual Offenders and Offenders Against Children)
A sexual offender who fails to register, or who changes his or her name, school, or address and fails to give written notification is guilty of a criminal offense.
ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF OFFENSE
The State's burden of proof is satisfied if the evidence shows, beyond a reasonable doubt, the following essential elements:
1) The Defendant, ________________, has pled guilty or nolo contendere to or been found guilty, including juvenile delinquent adjudications of equivalent offenses, of [felonious sexual offender] [attempted felonious sexual offender] [misdemeanor sexual offender] [attempted misdemeanor sexual offender] [felony crime against a child] or [adjudicated delinquent of any crime against another individual and was found to demonstrate mental abnormality or sexual predatory conduct];
2) The Defendant was required to register; and
3) The Defendant [willfully] [failed to register with the [Chief of Police] [County Sheriff] within ten (10) days of coming into a County in which the Offender resides or is temporarily domiciled] [changed his or her name, school, or address [employment address if the individual is working in this state, but not residing] and failed to give written notification of the new information to the law enforcement agency within ten (10) days].
DEFINITIONS
[Insert relevant definitions. NDCC 12.1-32-15, 12.1-02-02]
NDCC 12.1-32-15
NOTE: To be added.
Sex Discrimination
(Hostile Work Environment)
It is unlawful for an employer to discriminate on the basis of an employee's sex. Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination.
Plaintiff alleges the Defendant engaged in sex discrimination by creating or maintaining a hostile or offensive work environment. Plaintiff has the burden of proving, by the greater weight of the evidence, each of the following essential elements:
1) Plaintiff belongs to a protected group;
2) Plaintiff was subjected to unwelcome sexual harassment;
3) The sexual harassment was based on the Plaintiff's gender, or in other words, that but for the fact of the Plaintiff's gender, the Plaintiff would not have been the object of harassment;
4) The harassment affected a term, condition, or privilege of Plaintiff's employment; and
5) The Defendant knew or should have known of the harassment and failed to take proper remedial action.
Opp vs. Source One Management, Inc., 1999 ND 52, 591 NW2d 101
Sudden Emergency
If a person is suddenly faced with a dangerous situation s/he did not create, s/he is not held to the same accuracy of judgment as s/he would be if there were time for deliberation. S/he is not liable for a resulting injury if s/he acted as an ordinary prudent person would act in a similar emergency.
Ebach v. Ralston, 510 NW2d 604, 610 (ND 1994)
(Gender language to be modified.)