Opinion ID: 1764507
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: 3(c DID THE TRIAL COURT ERR WHEN IT REFUSED TO INSTRUCT THE JURY ON FORCED SALE?

Text: Stella objected to the trial court's failure to give North Dakota Jury Instruction No. 852 in its entirety. [1] The portion of such instruction omitted which Stella wanted included in the trial court's instructions is as follows: Similarly, the amount realized by the sale of such goods by a forced sale, such as a sheriff's sale, is no criterion as to its reasonable value or fair market value. We do not believe that the omission of the above language from the trial court's instructions was error. All of the positive statements in No. 852, NDJI, were given to the jury. The omitted portion is an indication of what market value is not, rather than what it is. In addition, none of the specific items of property involved in the instant case were sold for a particular amount, but, rather, were included in the sale of the house. The evidence in this case on the market value of the items in question is from the opinions of those persons familiar with the individual items involved. Therefore, the instructions as presented properly informed the jury as to determining fair market value.