Opinion ID: 1192010
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 28

Heading: hudson was denied his right to have the jury instructed on his theory of the case.

Text: The relevant principles were summarized by this Court in Garrett Freight Lines v. Bannock Paving Co., 112 Idaho 722, 730-731 (1987): Litigants have a right to have the jury instructed on every reasonable theory presenting a basis of a claim or relief, or defense thereto, where such theory finds support in the pleadings and evidence. Messmer v. Ker, 96 Idaho 75, 524, P.2d 536 (1974); Rosenberg v. Toetly, 94 Idaho 413, 489 P.2d 446 (1971); Hodge v. Borden, 91 Idaho 125, 417 P.2d 75 (1966); Domingo v. Phillips, 87 Idaho 55, 390 P.2d 297 (1964); Jones v. Mikesh, 60 Idaho 680, 95 P.2d 575 (1939). Failure to instruct upon a party's theory of the case constitutes reversible error. Sulik v. Central Valley Farms, Inc. 95 Idaho 826, 521 P.2d 144 (1974); Messmer v. Ker, supra. In this case, Plaintiff's Requested Instruction Nos. 57 and 58 were supported by the pleadings, the evidence, and the relevant case law. Yet the trial court elected to impose upon Hudson her own theory of the case and then, when the trial judge decided that she had selected the wrong theory of the case, she chose to correct the error by granting the judgment n.o.v. The trial court's failure to instruct upon Hudson's theory of the case constitutes reversible error, especially when the trial court's decision to impose her own theory of the case, over the objection of both parties, is considered. See, Robertson v. Richards, 115 Idaho 628 (1989) wherein this Court ruled that the inadvertent omission of a proximate cause instruction in a medical malpractice case was prejudicial error, requiring a new trial, even though the jury found that the defendant doctor was not negligent.