Opinion ID: 312241
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: rock island's claim of error

Text: 69 The sole contention pressed by Rock Island on its protective appeal from the adverse judgment on its counterclaim is that the court in its instructions erred in placing upon Rock Island the burden of proving its freedom from contributory negligence and should have given Rock Island's requested instruction placing upon Fulton the burden of proving Rock Island contributorily negligent. However, regardless of the substantive merits of this contention, Rock Island failed to object after the charge was delivered to this particular instruction and it is therefore precluded from raising this issue on appeal. Rule 51, Fed.R.Civ.P. 70 It is not enough that Rock Island had earlier filed a requested instruction placing the burden of proof on Fulton. The purpose of Rule 51 is to compel litigants to afford the trial court an opportunity to cure a defective instruction and to prevent litigants from insuring a new trial in the event of an adverse verdict by covertly relying on the error. Meitz v. Garrison, 413 F.2d 895, 899 (8th Cir. 1969); Chicago G. W. Ry. Co. v. Casura, 234 F.2d 441, 445 (8th Cir. 1956). Furthermore, a trial court need not give a requested instruction verbatim but may rephrase the rule of law it embodies so long as he adequately and accurately states the applicable law. Partlow v. Goldstein, 263 F.2d 169, 171 (8th Cir. 1959). It would therefore undermine the purpose of the Rule to allow a previous request for an instruction to obviate the need for a specific statement of the alleged error. Indeed, that would be contrary to the express command of Rule 51 thatNo party may assign as error the giving or the failure to give an instruction unless he objects thereto . . . stating distinctly the matter to which he objects and the grounds [for] his objection. (emphasis supplied). 71 Accordingly, we hold that compliance with Rule 51 is not afforded merely by filing before the charge an accurate requested instruction, but requires that there appear somewhere in the record an objection specifically delineating the objection and the grounds therefor. See Cone v. Beneficial Standard Life Ins. Co., 388 F.2d 456, 460-464 (8th Cir. 1968); Capital Transp. Co. v. Compton, 187 F.2d 844 (8th Cir. 1951).