Case Title: In Re Amendments To Standard Jury Instructions In Civil Cases Report No. 12-01

Citation: 

Docket Number: 

State: florida

Court: Florida Supreme Court

Date: 2013-05-30T00:00:00Z

Document:
Supreme Court of Florida 
 
 
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No. SC12-1566 
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IN RE:  STANDARD JURY INSTRUCTIONS IN CIVIL CASES—REPORT 
NO. 12-01. 
 
[May 30, 2013] 
 
 
PER CURIAM. 
 
The Supreme Court Committee on Standard Jury Instructions in Civil Cases 
has filed a report proposing changes to the standard jury instructions and asking the 
Court to authorize the amended standard instructions.  We have jurisdiction.  See 
art. V, § 2(a), Fla. Const. 
 
In In re Standard Jury Instructions in Civil Cases—Report No. 09-01 
(Reorganization of the Civil Jury Instructions), 35 So. 3d 666 (Fla. 2010), the 
Court authorized for publication and use the standard civil jury instructions as 
reorganized by the Supreme Court Committee on Standard Jury Instructions in 
Civil Cases (Committee).  The reorganization of the civil jury instructions also 
incorporated gender neutral language and substituted plain English to improve 
readability of the instructions and juror comprehension.  The Committee has 
 
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continued to review the civil jury instructions for such stylistic changes and has 
now filed a report proposing additional amendments to several instructions. 
 
Prior to filing its report with the Court, the Committee published for 
comment its proposed revisions in The Florida Bar News.  No comments 
pertaining to the Committee’s proposals were received.  The Committee now 
requests that the Court amend the instructions with non-substantive technical 
revisions, as well as other changes for purposes of clarification.  We amend the 
standard jury instructions as proposed by the Committee, except as discussed 
below, and authorize the amended jury instructions for publication and use.   
 
The majority of the amendments do the following: (1) correct typographical 
or spelling errors; (2) correct grammatical errors; (3) correct cross-references; (4) 
insert omitted terms, phrases, or other material, or remove improperly included 
terms or phrases; (5) renumber or change the name of an instruction1
 
Jury instructions 409.7 (Issues on Plaintiff’s Claim—Fraudulent 
Misrepresentation), 409.8 (Issues on Plaintiff’s Claim—Negligent 
; (6) eliminate 
repetitive language; and (7) make an instruction gender neutral.  These 
amendments are not discussed at length; however, we do describe the more 
substantive changes below.    
                                         
 
1.  Jury instructions 501.3 and 501.4 have been renumbered and renamed, 
and internal revisions have been made to the corresponding notes on use.  In 
addition, the model jury instructions have been revised where necessary to reflect 
reference to the correct numbered instruction. 
 
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Misrepresentation), and 409.9 (Issues on Plaintiff’s Claim—False Information 
Negligently Supplied for the Guidance of Others), are each amended to clarify that 
causation is an element of the respective cause of action. 
 
Next, the Court amends as proposed jury instruction 501.1 (Personal Injury 
and Property Damages: Introduction) to remove language applicable to wrongful 
death cases, as well as to add damages language pertaining to the claimant.  These 
same amendments are also made to Model Instruction 2, and on the Court’s own 
motion, to Model Instructions 4 and 6.  In addition, the Note on Use to instruction 
501.1 is amended to clarify the circumstances when instructions 501.3 (Motor 
Vehicle No-Fault Instruction), 501.4 (Comparative Negligence, Non-Party Fault 
and Multiple Defendants), or 501.5 (Other Contributing Causes of Damages) 
should be used, and to explain that to complete the instructions for personal injury 
and property damages, the applicable parts of instructions 501.6 - 501.9 (Mortality 
Tables; Reduction of Damages to Present Value; Collateral Source Rule; Joint 
Liability of Joint Tortfeasors) are to be used. 
 
The “Notes on Use for 502.1” to jury instruction 502.1 (Wrongful Death 
Damages: Introduction) is amended as follows.  First, the amendment directs that 
applicable portions of instructions 502.1 - 502.4 (Wrongful Death Damages: 
Introduction; Wrongful Death Damages: Elements for Estate and Survivors; 
Wrongful Death Damages of Estate and Survivors: Separate Awards for Estate and 
 
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Survivors; and Wrongful Death Damages: Elements when There Are No 
Survivors) should be used for wrongful death damage instructions, and that 
instructions 502.6 - 502.8 (Mortality Tables; Reduction of Damages to Present 
Value; and Liability of Multiple Tortfeasors) be used to complete the instructions 
for wrongful death damages.  The amendment also directs that instruction 502.5 
(Comparative Negligence, Non-Party Fault and Multiple Defendants) be used if 
there is a comparative fault or Fabre issue2
 
We amend jury instruction “B. Punitive Damages” of Section 500 to include 
a “Note on Use for Punitive Damages Charges,” applicable to the two punitive 
damages instructions, 503.1 (Bifurcated Procedure) and 503.2 (Non-Bifurcated 
Procedure). 
 after giving instructions on the 
elements of damages. 
 
The instructions, as set forth in the appendix to this opinion, are authorized 
for publication and use.  New language is indicated by underlining and deleted 
language is indicated by struck-through type.  In authorizing the publication and 
use of these instructions, we express no opinion on the correctness of the 
instructions and remind all interested parties that this authorization forecloses 
                                         
 
2.  See Fabre v. Marin, 623 So. 2d 1182, 1185 (Fla. 1993) (stating that “the 
only means of determining a party’s percentage of fault is to compare that party’s 
percentage to all of the other entities who contributed to the accident, regardless of 
whether they have been or could have been joined as defendants.”), receded from 
on other grounds by Wells v. Tallahassee Memorial Regional Medical Center, Inc., 
659 So. 2d 249 (Fla. 1995).   
 
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neither requesting an additional or alternative instruction nor contesting the legal 
correctness of the instructions.  We further caution all interested parties that any 
notes and comments associated with the instructions reflect only the opinion of the 
Committee and are not necessarily indicative of the views of this Court as to their 
correctness or applicability.   The instructions shall be effective when this opinion 
becomes final. 
 
It is so ordered. 
 
POLSTON, C.J., and PARIENTE, LEWIS, QUINCE, CANADY, LABARGA, 
and PERRY, JJ., concur. 
 
THE FILING OF A MOTION FOR REHEARING SHALL NOT ALTER THE 
EFFECTIVE DATE OF THESE AMENDMENTS. 
 
Original Proceedings – Supreme Court Committee on Standard Jury Instructions 
(Civil) 
 
Honorable James Manly Barton, II, Committee Chair, Supreme Court Committee 
on Standard Jury Instructions, (Civil), Tampa, Florida; Joseph Hagedorn Lang, Jr. 
of Carlton Fields, P.A., Tampa, Florida; and Rebecca Mercier Vargas of Kreusler-
Walsh, Compiani & Vargas, P. A., West Palm Beach, Florida 
 
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APPENDIX 
 
401.13 PREEMPTIVE CHARGES 
 
The court has determined and now instructs you that 
 
a. 
Duty to use reasonable care: 
 
the circumstances at the time and place of the incident involved in this 
case were such that (defendant) had a duty to use reasonable care for 
(claimant’s) safety. 
 
(skip to instruction 401.1718 on negligence issues) 
 
NOTE ON USE FOR 401.13a 
 
This preemptive instruction is not for use routinely, but only when the 
reasonable care standard was contested before the jury, as by an instruction 401.14 
issue now to be withdrawn as a matter of law. In that event instruction 401.13a 
properly emphasizes reasonable care as embodied in instruction 401.17 or 401.19 
and 401.4. Otherwise it is argumentative.  
 
b. 
Vicarious liability: 
 
(Defendant) is responsible for any negligence of (name) in (describe alleged 
negligence). 
 
(skip to instruction 401.1718 on negligence issues) 
 
c. 
Negligence: 
 
(Defendant) was negligent. The issue for you to decide [on (claimant’s) 
claim] is whether such negligence was a legal cause of [loss] [injury] [or] 
[damage] to (claimant or person on whose behalf the claim is made). 
 
(skip to causation, damage issues and general instructions) 
 
d. 
Directed verdict on liability: 
 
(Defendant) was negligent and such negligence was a legal cause of [loss] 
[injury] [or] [damage] to (claimant). (Claimant) is therefore entitled to 
 
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recover from (defendant) for the [loss] [injury] [or] [damage] as is shown 
by the greater weight of the evidence to have been caused by (defendant). 
 
(skip to damage issues and general instructions) 
 
NOTE ON USE FOR 401.13d 
 
This instruction should be given only when the sole issue to be determined by 
the jury is damages.