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Judge Bernice Donald: Standard
Civil Jury Instructions |
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FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE WESTERN DIVISION
vs. No.
PROPOSED JURY INSTRUCTIONS INTRODUCTION Members of the Jury: You have now heard all of the evidence in the case, as well as the final arguments of the lawyers for the parties. It becomes my duty, therefore, to instruct you on the rules of law that you must follow and apply in arriving at your decision in the case. In any jury trial there are, in effect, two judges. I am one of the judges; the other is the jury. It is my duty to preside over the trial and to determine what testimony and evidence is relevant under the law for your consideration. It is also my duty at the end of the trial to instruct you on the law applicable to the case. You, as jurors, are the judges of the facts. But in determining what actually happened in this case -- that is, in reaching your decision as to the facts -- it is your sworn duty to follow the law I am now in the process of defining for you. You must not be influenced by sympathy, bias, prejudice or passion. You are not to single out any particular part of the instructions and ignore the rest, but you are to consider all the instructions as a whole and regard each in the light of all the others. Now let me outline for you the parts of the charge so that you can follow it more easily. First, I will instruct you as to the burden of proof and upon which party the law places that burden in the case, and I will give you some rules to help you as you consider the evidence. Second, I will outline for you the law to apply in determining the legal issues with respect to liability. Third, I will instruct you on the law with respect to damages. Finally, I will explain to you about the form of your verdict. Burden of Proof The burden is on the Plaintiff in a civil action, such as this, to prove every essential element of her claim by a preponderance of the evidence. If the proof should fail to establish any essential element of the Plaintiff's claim by a preponderance of the evidence in the case, the jury should find for the Defendant as to that claim. To "establish by a preponderance of the evidence" means to prove that something is more likely than not to have occurred. In other words, a preponderance of the evidence in the case means such evidence as, when considered and compared with that opposed to it, has more convincing force, and produces in your mind the belief that what is sought to be proved is more likely true than not true. This rule does not, of course, require proof to an absolute certainty, since proof to an absolute certainty is seldom possible in any case. In determining whether any fact in issue has been proven by a preponderance of the evidence in the case, the jury may, unless otherwise instructed, consider the testimony of all witnesses, regardless of who may have called them, and all exhibits received in evidence, regardless of who may have produced them.
Credibility of Witnesses You as members of the jury are judges of the facts concerning the controversy involved in this lawsuit. In order for you to determine what the true facts are, you are called upon to weigh the testimony of every witness who has appeared before you, and to give the testimony of the witnesses the weight, faith, credit and value to which you think it is entitled. You will note the manner and demeanor of witnesses while on the stand. You must consider whether the witness impressed you as one who was telling the truth or one who was telling a falsehood and whether or not the witness was a frank witness. You should consider the reasonableness or unreasonableness of the testimony of the witness; the opportunity or lack of opportunity of the witness to know the facts about which he testified; the intelligence or lack of intelligence of the witness; the interest of the witness in the result of the lawsuit; if any; the relationship of the witness to any of the parties to the lawsuit, if any; and whether the witness testified inconsistently while on the witness stand, or if the witness said or did something or failed to say or do something at any other time that is inconsistent with what the witness said while testifying. These are the rules that should guide you, along with your common judgment, your common experience and your common observations gained by you in your various walks in life, in weighing the testimony of the witnesses who have appeared before you in this case. If there is a conflict in the testimony of the witnesses, it is your duty to reconcile that conflict if you can, because the law presumes that every witness has attempted to and has testified to the truth. But if there is a conflict in the testimony of the witnesses which you are not able to reconcile, in accordance with these instructions, then it is with you absolutely to determine which ones of the witnesses you believe have testified to the truth and which ones you believe have testified to a falsehood. Immaterial discrepancies do not affect a witness' testimony, but material discrepancies do. The greater weight or preponderance of the evidence in a case is not determined by the number of witnesses testifying to a particular fact or a particular state of facts. Rather, it depends on the weight, credit and value of the total evidence on either side of the issue, and of this you jurors are the exclusive judges. If in your deliberations you come to a point where the evidence is evenly balanced and you are unable to determine which way the scales should turn on a particular issue, then the jury must find against that party upon whom the burden of proof has been cast in accordance with these instructions.
Direct and Circumstantial Evidence There are two kinds of evidence -- direct and circumstantial. Direct evidence is testimony by a witness about what that witness personally saw or heard or did. Circumstantial evidence is indirect evidence, that is, it is proof of one or more facts from which one can find another fact. Direct evidence is simply evidence like the testimony of an eyewitness which, if you believe it, directly proves a fact. If a witness testified that he saw it raining outside, and you believed him, that would be direct evidence that it was raining. Circumstantial evidence is simply a chain of circumstances that indirectly proves a fact. If someone walked into the courtroom wearing a raincoat covered with drops of water and carrying a wet umbrella, that would be circumstantial evidence from which you could conclude that it was raining. It is your job to decide how much weight to give the direct and circumstantial evidence. The law makes no distinction between the weight that you should give to either one, or say that one is any better evidence than the other. You should consider all the evidence, both direct and circumstantial, and give it whatever weight you believe it deserves. You may consider both direct and circumstantial evidence in deciding this case. The law permits you to give equal weight to both, but it is for you to decide how much weight to give to any evidence.
2.05 Deposition Testimony Certain testimony has been read into evidence from depositions. A deposition is testimony taken under oath before the trial and preserved in writing and/or videotape. You are to consider that testimony as if it had been given in court.
Expert Witnesses A witness who has special knowledge, skill, experience, training or education in a particular science, profession or occupation may give his opinion as an expert as to any matter in which he is skilled. In determining the weight to be given such opinion and in resolving conflicts in the testimony of differing expert witnesses, you should consider qualifications and credibility of the expert or experts, as well as the reasons, the facts and any other matters upon which any opinion is based. You are not bound by any expert opinion. Give it the weight, if any, to which you think it is entitled.
Corporation Not To Be Prejudiced The fact that a corporation is a party must not prejudice you in your deliberations or in your verdict. You may not discriminate between corporations and natural individuals. Both are persons in the eyes of the law, and both are entitled to the same fair and impartial consideration and to justice by the same legal standards.
Law Turning now to the legal theories in the case, it is my duty to tell you what the law is. If a lawyer or party has told you that the law is different from what I tell you it is, you must, of course, take the law as I give it to you. That is my duty, but it is your duty, and yours alone, to determine what the facts are and after you have determined what the facts are, to apply those facts the law as I give it to you, free from any bias, prejudice or sympathy, either one way or the other.
Negligence 80.03 Negligence is the doing of some act which a reasonably prudent person would not do, or the failure to do something which a reasonably prudent person would do, when prompted by considerations which ordinarily regulate the conduct of human affairs. It is, in other words, the failure to use ordinary care under the circumstances in the management of one's person or property, or of agencies under one's control. 80.17 In order to prove the essential elements of Plaintiff's claim, the burden is on the Plaintiff to establish, by a preponderance of the evidence in the case, the following facts: First, that the Defendant was negligent in failing to satisfy one or more of the particulars alleged; and Second, that the defendant's negligence was a proximate cause of some injury and consequent damage sustained by the plaintiff. Damages In this case, if you find for the defendant, you will not be concerned with the question of damages. But if you find in favor of the plaintiff, you will of course be concerned with the questions of damages. It is my duty to instruct you as to the proper measure of damages to be applied in that circumstance. 14.01 If, under the Court's instructions, you find that the plaintiff, ______________________, is entitled to a verdict against the defendant, you may then award plaintiff damages in an amount that will reasonably compensate her for each of the following elements of claimed loss or harm, provided that you find it was proximately caused by the act or omission upon which you base your finding of liability.
Personal Injury - Pain & Suffering You may award the following elements of damage experienced by Plaintiff: Physical pain and suffering; Emotional pain and suffering including anguish or distress; Loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life. There is no mathematical formula for computing reasonable compensation for physical pain and suffering, emotional pain and suffering, loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life, nor is the opinion of any witness required as to the amount of such compensation. In making an award for such damages, you must use your best judgment and establish an amount of damages that is fair and reasonable in light of the evidence before you.
Medical Expenses The next element of damages that the plaintiff may recover is for reasonable and necessary expenses for medical care, services, and supplies actually given in the treatment of a party as shown by the evidence and the present cash value of medical expenses reasonably certain to be required in the future. Finally, ladies and gentlemen, we come to the point where we will discuss the form of your verdict and the process of your deliberations. You will be taking with you to the jury room a verdict form that will reflect your findings. The verdict form reads as follows:
[READ VERDICT FORM] You will be selecting a foreperson after you retire to the jury room. That person will preside over your deliberations and be your spokesperson here in court. When you have completed your deliberations, your foreperson will fill in and sign the verdict form. Your verdict must represent the considered judgment of each of you. In order to return a verdict, it is necessary that each of your agree to that verdict. That is, your verdict must be unanimous. It is your duty as jurors, to consult with one another, and to deliberate with a view to reaching an agreement, if you can do so without violence to individual judgment. Each of you must decide the case for yourself, but only after an impartial consideration of the evidence in the case with your fellow jurors. In the course of your deliberations, do not hesitate to re‑examine your own views and change your opinion if convinced it is erroneous. But do not surrender your honest conviction as to the weight or effect of the evidence solely because of the opinion of your fellow jurors, or for the mere purpose of returning a verdict. We will be sending with you to the jury room all of the exhibits in the case. You may have not seen all of these previously and they will be there for your review and consideration. You may take a break before you begin the case. However, you may not deliberate at any time unless all eight of you are present together in the jury room. Some of you have taken notes. I remind you that these are for your own individual use only and are to be used by you only to refresh your recollection about the case. They are not too be shown to others or otherwise used as a basis for your discussion about the case. You will take the verdict form to the jury room and when you have reached a unanimous agreement as to your verdict, you will have your foreperson fill it in, date and sign it, and then return to the courtroom. If, during your deliberations, you should desire to communicate with the Court, please reduce your message or question to writing signed by the foreperson, and pass the note to the clerk who will bring it to my attention. I will then respond as promptly as possible, either in writing or by having you returned to the courtroom so that I can address you orally. I caution you, however, with regard to any message or question you might send, that you should never state or specify the vote of the jury at the time.
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Judge Bernice Donald: Standard CIVIL JURY INSTRUCTIONS
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