Opinion ID: 575266
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Jury's Question

Text: 21 During the course of the jury's deliberations on February 6, 1991, the jury gave the district court a communication which stated as follows: Need explanation of instruction # 26-last sentence--Murphy Enterprises will not be responsible to pay these damages, but any other defendant you find to be liable will, pursuant to the doctrine of joint and several liability, be required to pay that percentage of the total damages which you attribute to the negligent employer. 5 The district court prepared a response to the jury's question, and instructed one of the Deputy Clerks of Court to call the counsel for Tivoli and Exsaco on the telephone. The Clerk read the question from the jury and the district court's proposed response to the attorney for Exsaco and asked for his comments. The response by the district court was as follows: 22 Instruction 26 refers to plaintiff's negligence theory of recovery. 23 It is the court's understanding that Murphy Enterprises was a contributing employer to the North Dakota Workman's Compensation Fund and, as such, is immune from suit by its employees for injuries occurring within the scope of their employment. 24 You are reminded again that regardless of the employer's possible immunity, you must still apportion fault to Murphy Enterprises or any other non-party who has contributed to cause Bryant's injuries. 25 Exsaco's attorney objected to the proposed response, and told the Clerk that the response would further confuse the jury on the issue of allocating liability. The district court read its proposed response to the jury, and the jury returned with its verdict later that day. 26 Exsaco argues that the district court failed to give it an opportunity to comment on the district court's proposed response to a question from the jury regarding the instructions. We agree. In Fillippon v. Albion Vein Slate Co., 250 U.S. 76, 78, 39 S.Ct. 435, 435, 63 L.Ed. 853 (1919), the Supreme Court held that it was error for a trial judge to respond to a jury's question without giving counsel the opportunity to object to the court's response. See also Rogers v. United States, 422 U.S. 35, 38, 95 S.Ct. 2091, 2094, 45 L.Ed.2d 1 (1975) (reaffirming Albion Vein Slate in criminal cases). Given that counsel has the right to object to the district court's response to a jury question, the district court must provide counsel with a meaningful opportunity to argue its objection to the district court so that the district court may correct itself if the district court finds that it is in error. See McKnelly v. Sperry Corp., 642 F.2d 1101, 1108 (8th Cir.1981); Chicago Rock Island Pacific RR Co. v. Speth, 404 F.2d 291, 294 (8th Cir.1968). In this case, the court did not permit counsel to meaningfully address the district court on the district court's proposed response to the jury question. See Nations v. Sun Oil Co., 695 F.2d 933, 939 (5th Cir.1983) (holding that counsel should be given an opportunity to be heard regarding court's response). A Deputy Clerk of Court cannot be expected to persuasively convey the objections of a party to the district court. The district court should have called counsel for both parties to chambers so that they could have placed their objections to the district court's proposed response on the record. 27 We observe, however, that the district court gave a substantially correct statement of the law. The district court reminded the jury to allocate liability to Murphy Enterprises, and any other non-party responsible for Murphy's injuries, in accord with North Dakota's comparative negligence statute § 9-10-07, which the district court read to the jury. Given that the jury implicitly found Murphy Enterprises responsible for 90% of the negligence that caused Murphy's injuries, we must conclude that the jury interpreted the district court's response in a manner favorable to Exsaco. In addition, before trial, Exsaco requested a jury instruction which contains the exact substance of the district court's response to the jury's question, and during trial, Exsaco's counsel asserted that Murphy Enterprises was a contributing employer. VII Tr. at 1045. Under these circumstances, the district court's response did not prejudice Exsaco's rights. The objection may have prejudiced the plaintiff, but he does not appeal the award. 28 Indeed, the injection of workers' compensation into the trial proceeding usually is deemed helpful to a defendant, as it may serve to hold down damages and it may have an adverse effect on the jury's consideration of liability. 6 Here, the record shows that plaintiff's counsel objected to the proposed instruction, while it is questionable that defense counsel voiced any objection to the court clerk to the text of the instruction. 29 We conclude here also that the error was harmless and does not justify setting aside the judgment against Exsaco. 30 Exsaco presented evidence to the district court of affidavits by jury members who explained that they would not have allocated any liability to Exsaco had they known that Exsaco would have to pay in full for any damages assessed. We observe that juror affidavits may not be used to show jurors' state of mind, Fed.R.Evid. 606(b). Further, the district court correctly noted that the jury is not concerned with the actual apportionment or attribution of damages, only with the amount of damages and degree of fault.