Opinion ID: 3064739
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Prejudice from the Error

Text: [5] “ ‘An error in instructing the jury in a civil case requires reversal unless the error is more probably than not harmless.’ ” Id. at 811 (quoting Caballero v. City of Concord, 956 F.2d 204, 206 (9th Cir. 1992)). Because we “presume prejudice where civil trial error is concerned,” the “burden shifts to the defendant to demonstrate that it is more probable than not that the jury would have reached the same verdict had it been properly instructed.” Id. (quotations and alterations omitted) (quoting Galdamez, 415 F.3d at 1025). 6576 CLEM v. LOMELI Here, Lomeli cannot overcome the presumption against him because he has failed to address prejudice in his answering brief, declining to advance any argument or identify any evidence to support a harmless error finding. He has therefore waived the argument. See United States v. Gamboa-Cardenas, 508 F.3d 491, 502 (9th Cir. 2007) (where appellees fail to raise an argument in their answering brief, “they have waived it” (citing United States v. Nunez, 223 F.3d 956, 958-59 (9th Cir. 2000)). [6] Even setting aside the waiver issue, “it is more probable than not that” the error here was prejudicial. Dang, 422 F.3d at 811. At the outset, we have previously recognized that when “the trial court erroneously add[s] an extra element to [the plaintiff’s] burden of proof,” it is “unlikely that the error would be harmless.” Caballero, 956 F.2d at 207. Here, the instructions added an extra element to Clem’s burden of proof: that some act of Lomeli had to be the “moving force” that directly “caused the ultimate injury.” It is therefore “unlikely” the error was harmless. Id. [7] Prejudice is also generally more likely than not if “nothing about th[e jury’s] verdict indicates that the result would have been the same without the error.” Id. Here, the entire verdict consisted of the response “No” to the question, “[B]y failing to remove him from Cell 115, was Defendant Lomeli deliberately indifferent to a serious risk of harm to the plaintiff[?]” The trial court never explained to the jury, however, what the words “deliberately indifferent” meant, despite that they were the pivotal words on the jury verdict form. Because we cannot determine one way or another whether the jury understood “deliberate indifference” to include the affirmative act element, we cannot say the verdict would have been the same without the error. If the jury had been properly instructed, it “may well have concluded that” Lomeli was liable to Clem for failing to abate the risk of harm from Godman. Dang, 422 F.3d at 812. Accordingly, we hold the error was not harmless. CLEM v. LOMELI 6577 REVERSED AND REMANDED.