Opinion ID: 1693062
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: erroneous exercise of discretion by use of wis jicivil 1019

Text: ¶ 29. The plaintiffs appeal the circuit court's use of a modified version of Wisconsin Jury Instruction Civil 1019 in instructing the jury on the custom of Wisconsin farmers. Specifically, the circuit court instructed the jury: Evidence has been received as to the custom regarding the practice of farmers regarding use of underground storage tanks in the 1970's. This evidence will be weighed and examined by you as it may bear upon whether the conduct of Mr. Achter measures up to the standard of ordinary care. This evidence of practice is not conclusive as to what meets the standard for ordinary care. What is generally done by farmers engaged in a similar activity has some bearing on what an ordinary prudent person would do under the same or like circumstances. A practice which is obviously unreasonable cannot serve to excuse a person from responsibility for carelessness. ¶ 30. The plaintiffs label this instruction an erroneous exercise of the circuit court's discretion. They claim impropriety because the testimony concerning custom was of insufficient weight. They assert that any custom instruction given to the jury should have been focused on the custom of maintaining a leaking UST. They argue that the allegedly misleading instruction confused the jury. Finally, the plaintiffs argue that the circuit court erroneously based its decision to give the instruction in part on its own knowledge and judgment. [6] ¶ 31. Circuit courts have significant discretion when conveying instructions to the jury so long as the trial court fully and fairly informs the jury of the rules and principles of law applicable to the particular case. Nowatske v. Osterloh, 198 Wis. 2d 419, 428, 543 N.W.2d 265 (1996) (citing Peplinski v. Fobe's Roofing, Inc., 193 Wis. 2d 6, 24, 531 N.W.2d 597 (1995)). The circuit court must instruct the jury with due regard to the facts of the case. See Nowatske, 198 Wis. 2d at 428. The instruction should not be unduly unfavorable to any party. See id. Appellate courts must consider the challenged jury instruction as a whole to determine if the instruction was erroneous. See id. at 429. Finally, when a circuit court has given an erroneous instruction or has erroneously refused to give an instruction, a new trial is not warranted unless the error is prejudicial. See id. [7] ¶ 32. We find that the circuit court properly tailored the standard jury instruction, Wis JICivil 1019, to the facts and claims of this case. The Grubes' sole remaining claim against Achter at trial centered on Achter's common law negligence in maintaining a UST on his farm in the 1970s. Custom is a valid indicator of a standard of care in common law negligence cases and circuit courts should not hesitate in appropriate cases to tailor standard jury instructions to the facts of the cases before them. See Buel v. LaCrosse Transit Co., 77 Wis. 2d 480, 492, 253 N.W.2d 232 (1977). Moreover, the plaintiffs' assertion that the custom instruction should have related to the custom of maintaining a leaking UST is inapposite. This argument is similar to the one we rejected in the plaintiffs' strict liability appeal. The relevant standard of care is the care an ordinary person would take under similar circumstances to maintain a UST in working order. Thus, the instruction given adequately covers the law and the facts and is not an erroneous exercise of the circuit court's discretion.