Opinion ID: 1970127
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: Jury Verdict Form & Verdict

Text: The jury verdict form divided the jury's deliberations into six major questions. Questions 1(a) and (b) asked the jury whether Borden breached the contract between April 7, 1986, and August 8, 1987, by purchasing less than the specified minimum of 7,680 bushels of quahogs per week and by not paying the specified price of fifty cents per pound. The jury answered in the affirmative and awarded Sons of Thunder $362,292. Questions 5 and 6 asked whether it was foreseeable that the Federal Government would institute a new allocation system that would cause Sons of Thunder to suffer a loss if Borden breached. The jury returned a verdict for Borden. Questions 1, 5, and 6 are not before the Court. Questions 2, 3, and 4 are the focal point of this appeal. Those questions and the jury responses follow: 2. Do you find that defendant, Borden, Inc., breached the Contract with plaintiff, Sons of Thunder, Inc., by terminating the Contract by its letter of May 8, 1987? YES ____ NO x Vote 5-1 3. Do you find that defendant, Borden, Inc., breached its obligation of good faith and fair dealing to plaintiff, Sons of Thunder, Inc., in terminating the Contract by its letter of May 8, 1987? YES x NO ____ Vote 6-0 If you have answered No to BOTH questions # 2 and # 3, cease your deliberations and advise the jury attendant that you have reached your verdict; if you have answered Yes to question # 2 and/or # 3, proceed to answer question #4. 4. What sum of money, if any, expressed in a lump sum, will adequately and justly compensate the plaintiff, Sons of Thunder, Inc., for: (a) Damages as a result of lost sales to Borden, Inc., if any $ 412,000 Vote 5-1 (b) Damages as a result of lost sales to other processors, if any $ 0 Vote 6-0 See infra at 415-20, 690 A. 2d at 584-87 for a discussion of the trial court's instructions to the jury. During its deliberations, the jury was confused on how to allocate damages under the first four questions. It asked: [I]f we were to award money for lost profits from sales, can we also award damages based on breach of good faith and fair dealing for the same time period? The jury foreperson clarified that the inquiry referred to the ninety days after the termination of the contract. The trial court determined that those ninety days were included in the lost sales described in the first question's reference to Borden's failure to purchase the minimum amount of clams at the specified price. The court then stated that any alleged damages following that ninety days would fall under the claims relating to whether Borden did not perform in good faith or breached by terminating the contract.