Opinion ID: 1297320
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Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Whether QCF Preserved the Subjective-Objective Issue for Appeal

Text: The trial court ruled on a motion for summary judgment that personal injury or property damage was expected or intended if the insured subjectively or objectively intended or expected the injury or damage. The jury was instructed that QCF had the burden of proving that it did not intend or expect that materials would leak from the disposal ponds into groundwater and that a reasonable person in the position of Queen City Farms should not have expected that the materials from the disposal ponds would leak into groundwater. Instruction 4; Clerk's Papers (Appellant) vol. 4, at 1116. QCF objected to the jury instruction, but did not object to the special verdict form. The insurers argue that QCF has not properly preserved the subjective/objective issue for appellate review because it made no objection to the special verdict question incorporating the objective standard. Question 2 on the special verdict form asked: Did there come a time ... that Queen City Farms expected or intended, or should reasonably have expected, that materials would leak from its disposal ponds into groundwater? Clerk's Papers (Appellant) vol. 4, at 1132. The insurers' basic argument appears to be that the lack of any objection to this question constituted a waiver of QCF's objection. Additionally and more specifically, the insurers argue that QCF should have objected to the compound nature of the special verdict question so that a new trial would not have been necessary if QCF were to prevail on its argument for application of a subjective standard on review, and that QCF's failure to do so constituted a waiver of the factual issue of subjective expectation under CR 49(a). CR 49(a), which governs the use of special verdict forms, provides in part: If ... the court omits any issue of fact raised by the pleadings or by the evidence, each party waives his rights to a trial by jury of the issue so omitted unless before the jury retires he demands its submission to the jury. As to an issue omitted without such demand the court may make a finding; or, if it fails to do so, it shall be deemed to have made a finding in accord with the judgment on the special verdict. The rule does not support the insurers' argument. As QCF correctly states, the subjective/objective issue was resolved on a summary motion brought before trial. The trial court refused to reconsider the matter. Under the trial court's ruling, the jury was to decide whether QCF subjectively or objectively expected or intended the leakage of material into groundwater. Under that ruling, there was no triable issue of fact as to whether QCF subjectively, and only subjectively, expected or intended the leakage. Thus, there was no further issue of fact about subjective expectation which should have been submitted to the jury. Moreover, the case upon which the insurers rely does not support their argument. In Anderson v. Cryovac, Inc., 862 F.2d 910 (1st Cir.1988), a compound question combined separate elements in a way which led to ambiguity as to whether the jury found either or both of the elements. Both elements were at issue. Here, in contrast, there was no reason for the jury to decide the subjective expectation question separate from the objective expectation question, in light of the trial court's ruling that if either standard was met, coverage was precluded. Thus, although it cannot be determined whether the jury's verdict was that QCF subjectively, objectively, or both subjectively and objectively expected the leakage into the groundwater, it is obvious that the trial court would have had absolutely no reason to enter an y findings on a subjective standard alone. Nor is there any need to deem any findings consistent with the judgment. Patently, this matter was submitted to the jury under the trial court's ruling that an objective standard applied, and under jury instructions that contained the objective standard. There was no waiver within the meaning of CR 49(a) of the right to a jury determination on the subjective standard. The real question is whether QCF preserved its appeal of the subjective/objective issue. There is no specific rule pertaining to the proper method for objecting to special jury verdict forms. Federal courts have required compliance with Fed. R. Civ. P. 51, requiring timely exceptions to jury instructions, in order to properly preserve an objection to a special verdict question. Landsman Packing Co. v. Continental Can Co., 864 F.2d 721, 726 (11th Cir.1989); J.C. Motor Lines, Inc. v. Trailways Bus Sys., Inc., 689 F.2d 599, 602 n. 2 (5th Cir.1982). [1] CR 51(f) provides that counsel must, in objecting to the giving of any instruction, state distinctly the matter to which he objects and the grounds of his objection. This court and the federal courts agree that the purpose of the requirement is to sufficiently apprise the trial court of any alleged error in order to afford it the opportunity to correct the matter if necessary. Schmidt v. Cornerstone Invs., Inc., 115 Wn.2d 148, 163, 795 P.2d 1143 (1990). [2, 3] We agree that CR 51(f) applies by analogy to special verdict forms. However, under some circumstances compliance with the purpose of the rule will excuse technical noncompliance. See Falk v. Keene Corp., 113 Wn.2d 645, 658, 782 P.2d 974 (1989) (holding that an issue concerning an instruction that was not challenged at trial was properly before the court where the party had made his position clear through his objection to the trial court's failure to give one of his proposed instructions); Crossen v. Skagit Cy., 100 Wn.2d 355, 359, 669 P.2d 1244 (1983); Bennett v. Maloney, 63 Wn. App. 180, 186, 817 P.2d 868 (1991), review denied, 118 Wn.2d 1011 (1992); cf. Landsman Packing Co. v. Continental Can Co., supra at 727-28. In this case, the purpose of the CR 51(f) objection requirement has been met. The issue concerning the applicability of the objective standard was argued pretrial on a motion for summary judgment. Although the trial judge indicated that the matters decided on summary judgment would not be reconsidered during the discussion of jury instructions, QCF still objected to the jury instruction on objective expectation on the grounds that the objective standard was not the applicable standard. The trial judge understood QCF's argument, but was unwilling to reconsider the issue. By objecting to the instruction on objective expectation, QCF gave the trial court adequate opportunity to change both the instruction and the accompanying special verdict question. As did the Court of Appeals, we conclude that in objecting to jury instruction 4 setting forth the objective standard, QCF sufficiently apprised the trial court of its objection to the objective standard, including that set out in the special verdict form.