Opinion ID: 1801234
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Trial Court's Oral Charge

Text: The appellant asserts that the court made an erroneous jury charge regarding the applicable rules governing the proper use of sirens and warning lights by police vehicles during emergency runs. The plaintiff's failure to timely object to the charge before the jury retired removes the need to consider the merits of the objection. ARCP 51 states: [N]o party may assign as error the giving or failing to give a written instruction, or the giving of an erroneous, misleading, incomplete, or otherwise improper oral charge unless he objects thereto before the jury retires to consider its verdict.... (Emphasis added.) The plaintiff urges this Court to carve out an exception to the clear intention of ARCP 51. The record shows that the court gave the jury instruction on five different occasions. The judge read the portion of the charge regarding the use of the siren twice during his original charge to the jury. After retiring, the jury returned to the courtroom and reheard that portion of the charge three more times. The plaintiff raised an objection to the charge only on the last three occasions. The court overruled the objections, reasoning that the plaintiff had an opportunity to object during the charge conference and during the initial readings of the jury charge. Since the plaintiff failed to make a timely objection, there is nothing for this Court to review. Miller v. State, 405 So.2d 41, 49 (Ala.Cr.App.1981); ARCP 51. See Oden v. Linsey, 365 So.2d 664 (Ala.1978).