Opinion ID: 1957633
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 12

Heading: The form of the verdict

Text: ¶ 83. Mississippi law presumes that jurors follow the instructions given them by the trial judge. Indeed, their oaths require them to do so. Fielder v. Magnolia Beverage Co., 757 So.2d 925, 937 (Miss. 1999). Ignoring the marked-through language, it appears the jury awarded $100,000 for fraud. The final sentence in instruction P-8 provides that, in order to find against the Dealership on the issue of fraud, the jury must find that the Dealership committed fraud and the Dorseys suffered damages. Then, the instructions authorizes the jury to assess damages for the Dealership's conduct. Specifically, instruction P-8 provided: The Court instructs the jury that if you believe from clear and convincing evidence that the employees of Kim's Toyota told Mr. and Mrs. Dorsey that they had been approved from financing on the Mountaineer and that this representation was not true, and if you further believe that this statement to the Dorseys was material in getting the Dorseys to sign the Retail Installment Contract presented to them; that the employee's of Kim's Toyota knew that the Dorseys had not been approved for financing, but told the Dorseys that they had been approved with the intention of talking the Dorseys into signing the Retail Installment Contract; that the Dorseys did not know that they had not been approved for financing and relied on the representations of the employees of Kim's Toyota when they said the Dorseys had been approved for financing; and that the Dorseys had a right to rely on Kim's Toyota to tell them the truth about whether they had been approved for financing and that as a result of the misrepresentations, if any, made by the employees of Kim's Toyota regarding the financing of the Mountaineer and the fact that the Dorseys executed a Retail Installment Contract in reliance upon those misrepresentations, if any, caused them to sustain damages, then in that event, Kim's Toyota committed fraud, and you may assess damages for its conduct. (emphasis added). ¶ 84. The Dealership argues that the trial court did not have authority to reform the verdict to the extent that it did. I agree. The Dealership also says that instead of reforming the verdict, the trial judge should have entered a verdict in its favor or, in the alternative, rejected the verdict and returned the jury to reconsider the verdict. I certainly find no clear indication from the verdict form that the Dealership was entitled to a verdict in its favor. Although I do agree with the Dealership's contention that the trial judge should have required the jury to reconsider the verdict form, this point is of no moment now because it did not happen. ¶ 85. URCCC 3.10 provides in part: When the jurors have agreed upon a verdict they shall be conducted into the courtroom by the officer having them in charge. The court shall ask the foreman or the jury panel if an agreement has been reached on a verdict. If the foreman or the jury panel answers in the affirmative, the judge shall call upon the foreman or any member of the panel to deliver the verdict in writing to the clerk or the court. The court may then examine the verdict and correct it as to matters of form. The clerk or the court shall then read the verdict in open court in the presence of the jury. If a verdict is so defective that the court cannot determine from it the intent of the jury, the court shall, with proper instructions, direct the jurors to reconsider the verdict. No verdict shall be accepted until it clearly reflects the intent of the jury. If the jury persists in rendering defective verdicts the court shall declare a mistrial. (emphasis added). ¶ 86. The Dealership argues that because the jury provided no award of damages pursuant to instructions P-3 and P-6 which covered emotional distress and medical costs, respectively, a defense verdict is required. I do not find the jury's intent so clear. Its award of $100,000 may have been for actual damages, punitive damages or a combination of the two. Upon review of the form of the verdict returned by the jury, I believe the trial court should have required the jury to reform the verdict to the proper form so that its intent could be clearly discerned. With its zeros and marked-through words and statements unauthorized by the court's instructions, I believe this Court should decline to engage in any attempt to decipher the verdict form. ¶ 87. Furthermore, that the trial court, faced with an unclear verdict form, was provided two options under URCCC 3.10, supra. Since the trial court did not, with proper instructions, direct the jurors to reconsider the verdict, the only remaining option was a mistrial.