Opinion ID: 2032138
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: instruction on violation of statute or ordinance

Text: Dolberg also alleges that the court erred in giving instruction No. 10 to the jury. Instruction No. 10 states: The violation of a statute or ordinance, if you so find, does not necessarily establish negligence. The violation is evidence of negligence which you may consider, along with all the other facts and circumstances, in deciding whether or not there was negligence proximately causing or contributing to cause an accident. Dolberg alleges that this instruction was improperly submitted to the jury because there was no evidence that Dolberg violated a statute or ordinance. Dolberg argues that this instruction could only relate to Paltani's conduct in running a red light and that because her negligence was established as a matter of law, there was no need for this instruction. However, Paltani contends that the court gave instruction No. 10 because instruction No. 7 mentions the duty to exercise reasonable care. She argues that instruction No. 10 indicates that if Dolberg violated her duty to keep a proper lookout, the violation was only evidence of negligence and would not establish contributory negligence on her part. We conclude that the court erred in giving this instruction. Paltani's negligence was established as a matter of law; therefore, no instruction on the effect of the violation of a statute was necessary. Furthermore, even if Dolberg failed to keep a proper lookout, this conduct may have been negligent, but was not a violation of a statute or ordinance. In an appeal based on the claim of an erroneous instruction, the appellant has the burden to show that the questioned instruction was prejudicial or otherwise adversely affected a substantial right of the appellant. Hamernick v. Essex Dodge Ltd., 247 Neb. 392, 527 N.W.2d 196 (1995); Scharmann v. Dayton Hudson Corp., 247 Neb. 304, 526 N.W.2d 436 (1995); Sindelar v. Canada Transport, Inc., 246 Neb. 559, 520 N.W.2d 203 (1994). However, we note that it is more than mere probability that an instruction on a matter not an issue in the litigation distracts a jury in its effort to answer legitimate, factual questions raised during trial. Farmers & Merchants Bank v. Grams, 250 Neb. 191, 548 N.W.2d 764 (1996); Long v. Hacker, 246 Neb. 547, 520 N.W.2d 195 (1994). We conclude that by giving instruction No. 10, the court prejudiced Dolberg. By instructing the jury both that Paltani was negligent as a matter of law and that the violation of a statute was only evidence of negligence, the court created a contradiction in the instructions. Conflicting instructions are erroneous unless it appears that the jury was not misled. Hamernick v. Essex Dodge Ltd., supra . Finding no violation of statute on the part of Dolberg, the jury could only have concluded that instruction No. 10 applied to Paltani, when the issue of her negligence was not at issue in the case.