Opinion ID: 196628
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Puerto Rico Law Tort

Text: 60 CAPECO also challenges the judgment on Coastal's claim under 31 L.P.R.A. 5141 (Article 1802). 13 CAPECO claims that Coastal was required to allege and prove the elements of a recognized tort, and failed to do so. According to CAPECO, because the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico has recently declined to rule that violation of an antitrust statute will also necessarily give rise to a violation of Article 1802, the violation of an antitrust statute does not give rise to a per se violation of Article 1802. See Pressure Vessels of Puerto Rico, 94 JTS 144, -39 Additionally, CAPECO challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the judgment on this issue. CAPECO asks for a reversal of the verdict on these grounds. 61 CAPECO's arguments may well have merit. However, we need express no opinion regarding CAPECO's arguments as CAPECO waived them by failing to object to the jury instructions regarding the Article 1802 claim. See Linn v. Andover Newton Theological School, Inc., 874 F.2d 1, 5. These are not simply technical requirements. By failing to object to the jury instructions, CAPECO denied the judge an opportunity to correct his error, assuming that CAPECO rightly contends that an error was made. Id. While CAPECO may correctly contend that antitrust violations do not fall within the scope of Article 1802, the district court's jury instructions were not strictly limited to antitrust offenses. It is entirely possible that, had an objection been made, the district court could have charged the jury with antitrust offenses as an Article 1802 ground separately from other Article 1802 grounds that may have applied in the present case. For example, it could have charged the jury with tortious interference with contractual relations, since CAPECO may well have intentionally complicated, via its refusal to deal, Coastal's efforts to meet its obligations to deliver bunker fuel. See General Office Products Corp. v. A.M. Capen's Sons, Inc., 780 F.2d 1077, 1081 (1st Cir.1986) (noting that even in the absence of a contract, liability may be incurred under other judicial principles) (citing General Office Products Corp. v. A.M. Capen's Sons, Inc., No. 0-84-278, Trans.Op. at 6-7 (P.R. June 29, 1984)). By failing to object to the instructions in question, CAPECO has deprived us of factual findings that would aid in the resolution of these issues. Because of the generality of the instruction, we conclude that evidence existed of CAPECO's possibly tortious conduct sufficient for the jury to reasonably reach the verdict that it did. 62 CAPECO also challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the Article 1802 findings. However, CAPECO has waived review here of this argument too by failing to move at any time for a judgment as a matter of law on this ground under Fed.R.Civ.P. 50(a), see Wells Real Estate, Inc. v. Greater Lowell Board of Realtors, 850 F.2d 803, 810 (1st Cir.1988) ([a]ppellate review may be obtained only on the specific ground stated in the motion for directed verdict). 14 63 As a result of CAPECO's failure to preserve its arguments for review on appeal, we affirm the judgment on the Article 1802 claim.