Opinion ID: 2570160
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Did the District Court Err in Giving a Jury Instruction Requested by Esser Electric's Counsel?

Text: Esser Electric's trial counsel requested a jury instruction specifying the applicable measure of damages if the jury determined that Lost River was entitled to recover damages. The district court gave an instruction that was in substance identical to that requested by Esser Electric's trial counsel. It stated that the damages recoverable were the cost of bringing the work done by Esser Electric into compliance with the applicable electrical, building, and plumbing codes. Esser Electric now contends that the instruction was incorrect because it did not instruct the jury regarding the correct measure of damages. It is unnecessary for us to evaluate Esser Electric's challenge to the jury instruction. [O]ur cases clearly reject the notion that one may assert as error the court's instructing in language which that person has specifically requested the court to give, regardless of whether it was a correct statement of the law. McBride v. Ford Motor Co., 105 Idaho 753, 762, 673 P.2d 55, 64 (1983); Accord, Burgess v. Salmon River Canal Co., Ltd., 127 Idaho 565, 903 P.2d 730 (1995) (party cannot argue on appeal that trial court erred in giving a jury instruction requested by that party); Anderson v. Gailey, 97 Idaho 813, 555 P.2d 144 (1976) (party could not assign as error on appeal the giving of a jury instruction that was substantially identical to an instruction requested by that party, regardless of whether the instruction was a correct statement of the law). Since the instruction challenged was virtually identical to the one requested by Esser Electric, we will not consider this issue on appeal.