Court Opinion

ID: 9550455
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 18:35:26.23742+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:21:33.666784
License: Public Domain

GILLETTE, J.,
dissenting.
I concur with the rule of law laid down by the majority, but disagree with the disposition made of this case. By our decision today we are telling the plaintiffs:
"You are right when you suggest that you did not receive a fair trial because the trial court did'not adequately explain how the jury was to treat the fact that you had settled with certain of the defendants. You are also right in noting this was a question of first impression so that it would be difficult — if not impossible — to predict which combination of requested instructions and objections to instructions would preserve the precise legal position this court now adopts. Nonetheless, you lose.”
I would not, in a case of first impression such as this one, hold plaintiffs to the exacting standards of specificity we apply concerning more settled principles of law. Normally, we only require precision. Today’s decision requires prescience. I would grant plaintiffs a new trial and therefore respectfully dissent.