Opinion ID: 568537
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Willfulness/Intentional Instruction

Text: 40 The district court instructed the jury that intentionally/willfully was defined as follows: An act is done 'intentionally or wilfully' if it is done knowingly and voluntarily as distinguished from accidentally; or is done with a bad purpose; or without justifiable excuse; or stubbornly, obstinately or perversely. Rec.Vol. I, doc. 93. Appellant requested the following instruction: An act is done 'intentionally' or 'wilfully' if it is done without ground for believing it is lawful, or if it is done with careless disregard of whether or not the act is lawful. 41 When examining a challenge to jury instructions, we review the record as a whole to determine whether the instructions 'state the law which governs and provided the jury with an ample understanding of the issues and the standards applicable.'  Big Horn Coal Co. v. Commonwealth Edison Co., 852 F.2d 1259, 1271 (10th Cir.1988) (quoting Ramsey v. Culpepper, 738 F.2d 1092, 1098 (10th Cir.1984)). An error in jury instructions will mandate reversal of a judgment only if the error is determined to have been prejudicial. Id. at 1271 n. 19. 42 We believe the district court's instruction on the required mental state was a correct statement of the law, and, in any event, did not prejudice appellant. In addition to the willfulness/intentional instruction, the district court gave a punitive damages instruction that required a finding that appellant's wiretapping was done maliciously, oppressively, or wantonly. Rec.Vol. I, doc. 93. The jury returned a verdict for both compensatory and punitive damages. Thus, assuming the district court should have given appellant's requested instruction, such refusal was not reversible error in light of the jury's implicit finding of recklessness in its award of punitive damages. 43 We find appellant's remaining contentions regarding the admissibility of the illegally obtained tapes and the exclusion of evidence of appellee's suspicion that her phone was taped to be without merit.