Opinion ID: 2374546
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Emergency Doctrine Instruction

Text: Mylon testified at trial that just before the fatal collision he had been driving 45-to-50 miles per hour (in a 50 m.p.h. zone), when he rounded a curve and saw the Crockett car, with no lights on, stopped in the middle of his travel lane. With no time to take any other action, he said, he swerved to the left but was unable to avoid the Crockett car. Mylon's counsel requested the presiding justice to give an instruction as to the reduced standard of care applicable to one who is suddenly confronted with an emergency. The presiding justice declined to give the requested instruction; and it is Mylon's claim that by failing to instruct the jury as to a defense with rational support in the record, the trial justice committed reversible error. We find no error on this score. A trial judge may decline to give a requested instruction if the jury is otherwise adequately instructed on the point. State v. Atkinson, 458 A.2d 1200, 1203-04 (Me.1983). At least four separate times in his instructions, the presiding justice emphasized that the conduct of Mylon must involve a gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a reasonable and a prudent person would observe in the same situation.  (Emphasis added) The instructions given covered the point raised by Mylon. It was open to defense counsel to argue that, on the basis of the evidence, Mylon could be convicted only if the jury found that he had grossly deviated from what an ordinarily prudent person would have done when faced with the emergency situation that confronted Mylon. The entry is: Judgment affirmed. All concurring.