Opinion ID: 601518
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Analysis of Waiver and the Instant Charge

Text: 43 The record is devoid of requested and refused special issues or interrogatories. Only one instruction that was requested and refused is found, and it is not germane to the issue here under consideration. 43 There is no evidence that any objection to the interrogatories or instructions was made. Undoubtedly, Anheuser could have made any number of requests or objections to ensure that the McDaniel jury would address causation with regard to Force, including an objection to the conditioning of questions relating to the liability of Anheuser and Force. 44 An objection complying with the requirements of Rule 51 is required to preserve error regarding improper conditioning. 44 If an issue goes unanswered as a result of its conditional submission after the proponent of the issue has failed to object to that conditional submission, and the trial court makes no express finding on that issue, then under Rule 49(a) the trial court will be deemed to have found on that issue in accord with the judgment. 45 45 Questions regarding Force's causation were submitted to the jury conditionally, without objection by Anheuser. Faithfully following the conditioning instructions, the jury did not answer the questions directly pertaining to Force's causation. In the questions that were answered by the jury, McDaniel was found to have been the sole cause of his own injuries. 46 Anheuser correctly points out that the jury did not affirmatively find a lack of causation by Force. Anheuser had the burden under Rules 49(a) and 51, however, to ensure that its issues (including causation by Force) were properly submitted to the jury in such a manner that the jury could and would decide those issues. Having failed to do so, Anheuser has waived its right to have any jury determine the issue of causation by Force. 47 As Anheuser waived its right to a jury determination of the causation issue, Rule 49(a) would have permitted the trial court to make a finding on that issue. Anheuser again correctly points out that the court made no express findings with regard to causation by Force. The court did, however, enter a take-nothing judgment for McDaniel based on the jury findings. 46 48 The plain language of Rule 49(a) provides that the court may make a finding on a given issue if it is omitted [from the jury charge] without such demand. 47 The district court is not obligated to make express findings on any such issue. Rule 49(a) further provides, however, that if the district court does not make express findings it shall be deemed to have made a finding in accord with the judgment on the special verdict. 48 Under the circumstances of the instant case, the district court is deemed to have found Force to be free of causation, just as the jury found Anheuser and the Railroad free of causation. All of this is totally consistent with the judgment of the court. 49 But we need not rest our affirmation on the fiction of a deemed finding here, however. The jury implicitly found Force free of causation when it found Anheuser free of causation. 50 Although Anheuser's reasoning for its actions regarding the severance and the submission of the charge is not stated in the record or in Anheuser's brief to this court, it appears to have been part of a trial strategy that was, after all, substantially effective. By the time Force made its motion for separate trial, the Railroad had already entered into a Mary Carter agreement with McDaniel. 49 The other defendants--Anheuser and Force--apparently acted in concert to present a unified opposition to McDaniel's claims and to narrow the jurors' focus in their determination of liability. 51 Even though the manner in which the charge and special interrogatories were submitted eventuated to Anheuser's detriment on the contractual indemnity issue, it did prevent the jurors from considering anything other than a narrowly defined land occupier liability theory when they determined whether Anheuser was liable. Furthermore, obvious trial strategy suggests that if the jury directly considered the conduct of both Anheuser and Force and found Force partially liable, it would also almost certainly assign some liability to Anheuser. 52 Ironically, Anheuser cannot prevail in the instant action because its strategy against McDaniel worked so well. If the jury had found that Anheuser caused any percentage of McDaniel's injuries, Anheuser would not be in its present position. As the situation stands, Anheuser will not recover the $47,241.74 it was seeking from Force, but neither did it have to pay any of the over $1,128,000.00 sought by McDaniel. Considering the results, we cannot categorically state that Anheuser's actions were ill considered. If, on the other hand, we have erroneously construed a lack of foresight as clever strategy, Anheuser would be even less deserving of sympathy. Either way, however, we find Anheuser deserving of no indemnification for the expense of its eminently successful defense of claims of injury not found to have been caused by the indemnitor. III