Opinion ID: 2370675
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Question and Answer

Text: [T]he general rule is that the trial court has a duty to provide instruction to the jury where it has posed an explicit question or requested clarification on a point of law arising from facts about which there is doubt or confusion. People v. Childs, 159 Ill.2d 217, 201 Ill.Dec. 102, 636 N.E.2d 534, 539 (1994). It should address those matters fairly encompassed within the question. Testa v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 144 F.3d 173, 176 (1st Cir. 1998). Here, we conclude that the trial court committed a substantial error in answering the jury's question. The question posed to the court was reasonably susceptible of competing interpretations. The jury asked: Does a Decision which Favors The Defendant Preclude other Remedies? ie is it Necessary before [pursuing] other People i.e. Is it necessary to prove Dr. K's negligence in order to seek remedy from other parties? (For example, Dr. Mahon?) One trained in the law might interpret this as an inquiry about the apportionment of fault and whether that issue is germane to the threshold finding of liability. However, we believe the better reading of the question, especially in view of the portion that was stricken, is whether returning a defendant's verdict on liability would foreclose the plaintiff from pursuing damages against other persons involved in bringing about his alleged harm. The trial court responded to the former interpretation but ignored the latter. At best, its response addressed one possible, though unlikely, interpretation of the jury's inquiry. At worst, it was entirely nonresponsive. Thus, it likely was, in effect, no response at all. Van Winkle v. Owens-Corning Fiberglas, 291 Ill.App.3d 165, 225 Ill.Dec. 482, 683 N.E.2d 985, 991 (1997); see Bollenbach v. United States, 326 U.S. 607, 613-15, 66 S.Ct. 402, 90 L.Ed. 350 (1946) (declining to sustain conviction where question and answer between judge and deliberating jury was subject to multiple interpretations). The failure to answer or the giving of a response which provides no answer to the particular question of law posed ... [can result in] prejudicial error. Van Winkle, 225 Ill.Dec. 482, 683 N.E.2d at 990 (quotation omitted). The trial court should have taken special care to specifically and accurately dispel any confusion about the law. See id.; Bollenbach, 326 U.S. at 612-13, 66 S.Ct. 402. Accordingly, we cannot sustain its answer to the deadlocked jury's question. See Lambert, 147 N.H. at 296, 787 A.2d 175.