Opinion ID: 2617549
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: unanswered interrogatories

Text: This court has not set forth a rule for reviewing unanswered interrogatories. However, in Sherwood B. Korssjoen, Inc. v. Heiman, 52 Wash.App. 843, 765 P.2d 301, 304 (1988), the Washington Court of Appeals articulated a standard that we find persuasive. In discussing the consequences of a jury's failure to answer special interrogatories, the Washington Court of Appeals said: The modern rule is that where the unanswered special interrogatories concern determinative issues, the absence of jury findings is prejudicial and requires a new trial, at least on the unresolved issues; but where the unanswered issues are not material, or where answers can be derived from the jury's responses to other interrogatories, the court may enter a judgment on the verdict. Id., 765 P.2d at 304 (emphasis added and footnote omitted). Shisler argues that the district court erred when it accepted the incomplete verdict form. The jury did not answer the question of whether the accident occurred as a result of the operation or maintenance of a building or the question of whether the accident occurred on a sidewalk. These questions, however, were rendered immaterial when the jury determined that neither the Town nor the County breached any duty owed to Shisler. As indicated in Sherwood B. Korssjoen, Inc., 765 P.2d at 304, judgment can be entered on the verdict if the issues in the unanswered interrogatories are immaterial. The unanswered interrogatories on the verdict form in this case were immaterial because the jury found that neither the Town nor the County breached any duty owed to Shisler. Since neither the Town nor the County breached any duty, Shisler failed to establish an essential element of her negligence claim. See Norman, 658 P.2d at 699. The district court, therefore, did not err in entering judgment on the verdict.