Opinion ID: 2443620
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: jury instruction on concurring proximate cause.

Text: Finally, Butler contends it was error to instruct the jury on concurring proximate cause, AMI Civil 501, in conjunction with instructing them on AMI Civil 503, because it had a tendency to confuse the jurors on the question of whether Hampton & Crain's negligence could bar the Hugheses' recovery. AMI 502, as read to the jury, stated: When the negligent acts or omissions of two or more persons work together as proximate causes of damage to another, each of those persons may be found to be liable. This is true regardless of the relative degree of fault between them. If you find that negligence of the defendant proximately caused damage to the plaintiff, it is not a defense that some other person may also have been to blame. AMI 503 read: If, following any act or omission of a party, an event intervened which in itself caused any damage, completely independent of the conduct of that party, then his act or omission was not a proximate cause of the damage. These two instructions state the applicable rules of law. This court has explained that negligence of a third party is no defense unless it is the sole proximate cause of the injury, and a plaintiff may recover from the original defendant if that defendant's negligence was a contributing factor to the injury. W.M. Bashlin Co. v. Smith, 277 Ark. 406, 643 S.W.2d 526 (1982); Gatlin v. Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., 252 Ark. 839, 481 S.W.2d 338 (1972). Under these instructions, the jury could have found Butler and Hampton & Crain negligent, and still returned a verdict for the Hugheses against Butler; they could have found only Butler to be negligent; or they could have found Butler not negligent. AMI 502 states that it is not a defense that some other person may also have been to blame. The word also indicates that it is no defense for Butler that Hampton & Crain may have been negligent if Butler too was negligent. If the jury felt that Hampton & Crain was solely to blame, AMI 502 did not instruct them to find against Butler. Accordingly, the instructions did not have a tendency to confuse the jurors and there is no merit to Butler's contention. Affirmed.