Opinion ID: 1444031
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: the trial court's inclusion of the seppi instruction in the special verdict form rather than in the jury instructions was sufficient.

Text: The Le'Galls assert that the trial court should have given their requested Seppi jury instruction. We disagree. In Seppi v. Betty, 99 Idaho 186, 579 P.2d 683 (1978), the Court ruled that a trial court could instruct the jury that if it found the plaintiff as negligent or more negligent than the defendant, then the plaintiff would recover nothing. The Le'Galls requested both a jury instruction and a special verdict instruction on the Seppi issue. If the substance of a proposed instruction is adequately covered elsewhere, the trial court will not be reversed for failing to give the proposed instruction. Watson v. Navistar Int'l Transp. Corp., 121 Idaho 643, 665, 827 P.2d 656, 678 (1992). In the Le'Galls' case, because the Seppi information was adequately covered in the special verdict form, the trial court was not required to include it as a jury instruction. Quincy v. Joint Sch. Dist. No. 41, 102 Idaho 764, 769, 640 P.2d 304, 309 (1981) (holding that because facts were stipulated to in front of jury, they were adequately covered elsewhere and no instruction on them was required).