Court Opinion

ID: 9581383
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 22:14:24.08895+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:36:54.632719
License: Public Domain

Fontron, J.,
dissenting: With due respect to the sagacity of my distinguished colleagues I find myself unable to agree with their several divergent views.
Very simply, I cannot consider Instruction No. 11, which the majority disdains, as a clearly inaccurate or distorted statement of legal principle. While perhaps the instruction is not phrased in the polished cadence or impeccable diction expected of an Ivy League proctor it would not, in my judgment, confuse, befuddle or mislead the average Kansas jury. In my opinion the jury which heard this case knew exactly what the issues were between these litigants, and made its determination accordingly.
Assuming solely for tire sake of argument, since I could not concede that an “unforeseeable” accident may be equated with one which is “unavoidable”, the record is entirely void of any taint of prejudice. No rule of law is more firmly rooted in our jurisprudence than this: that a litigant is entitled to have the jury instructed in *465his theory of the case. In Avey v. St. Francis Hospital & School of Nursing, 201 Kan. 687, 442 P. 2d 1013, this court declared:
“A party is entitled to an instruction which is essential to his theory of the case when there is sufficient evidence to support such theory. (Kreh v. Trinkle, [185 Kan. 329, 343 P. 2d 213] supra.)” (p. 699.)
The evidence in this case was highly conflicting. While certain portions of the plaintiff’s evidence is summarized in the majority opinion, it was largely contradicted by the defendant’s evidence, including the testimony given by the driver of the defendant’s truck to the following effect: that the accident resulted from the sudden deflation of a tire on the defendant’s truck which caused the trailer to whip across the pavement and the pickup truck itself to overturn. This testimony supported the defense set forth in the defendant’s answer. The defendant was entitled to have the theory underlying his defense presented to the jury. Instruction No. 11 performed that function adequately.
Although Instruction 11 is contained in the record, none of the other instructions have been abstracted. As indicated in the majority opinion, this court for many years has- adhered to the rule that unless a challenged instruction presents a clear and prejudicial misstatement of law, it will be reviewed only where the instructions as a whole have been made a part of the record. (See cases in 1 Hatcher’s Kansas Digest (Rev. Ed.), Appeal & Error, § 170.)
In my opinion, Instruction No. 11 does not clearly misstate the law. Neither may it be termed prejudicial in view of the evidence of record. Under the court’s own rule review of the challenged instruction should not have been undertaken.
For the reasons advanced above I must dissent.
Price, C. J., joins in the foregoing dissent.