Court Opinion

ID: 9789663
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 01:39:53.029552+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:37:23.910294
License: Public Domain

BISTLINE, J.,
dissenting on denial of Petition for Rehearing.
The petition for rehearing and supporting brief concede that much of the Court’s opinion is not questioned. Two issues are raised. One is peculiar to this case, and in my view deserving of reconsideration. The other is a recurring question, and one with which the Court should now come to grips. Because it is recurring, it will simply not go away. It has to do with the constantly incurred expenses of litigation, the granting of costs, challenges thereto, and the settling thereof. There is no formula for the latter, and much of it depends upon accuracy and credibility. Some cost bills are in excess of amounts sought in some tort and contract litigation.
*200Because we have before us a concise brief presenting and arguing the two issues, upon which I cannot expect to improve, and so present them to the readers who may have had previous interest in this litigation:1
APPENDIX
I. Joint and Several Liability: The Court’s opinion addresses at length the policies supporting instructing the jury about the effect of joint and several liability. The opinion points out the Court’s belief that the doctrine of joint and several liability poses a trap to an ill-informed jury.
The Lunas do not ask the court to reconsider that part of the opinion which expresses the policy nor the ruling that it is appropriate to instruct a jury of the effect of its findings under the principals of joint and several liability. What the Lunas would like the court to reconsider is whether Instruction No. 53 and the closing argument served the policy of informing the jury and avoiding the trap described by the Court.
Instruction No. 53 and the argument not only left the trap in place, but potentiated it. The jury remained ill-informed. The instruction and argument did not actually advise the jury as to the effect of joint and several liability, but left them to speculate as to the actual result. The jury also became misinformed because Instruction No. 53 and the argument affirmatively suggested possible outcomes which were contrary to Idaho law.
The jury was forced to speculate, without any guidance by the court, whether Shockey would have to pay “some or all” of the Plaintiffs’ damages. The jury could have concluded either. Under Tucker vs. Union Oil Company of California, 100 Idaho 590, 603 P.2d 156 (1979) and Schneider vs. Farmers Merchant, Inc., 106 Idaho 241, 678 P.2d 33 (Idaho 1983), there was no legal possibility that Shockey would ever have to pay “all of the Plaintiffs’ damages including that percentage, if any, caused by Ore-Ida.”
Notwithstanding this legal impossibility, because the jury was forced to speculate, there was nothing to prevent them from reaching this improper conclusion as to the effect of Idaho law. The likelihood of this false conclusion was dramatically increased by counsel’s closing argument strongly suggesting that Shockey was going to have to pay for all of the damages.
Having been thrown into the trap of having to speculate as to the result of their findings, with inaccurate information the jury was exposed to another trap. The inequitability of forcing Shockey to pay Ore-Ida’s share was strongly argued. The jury had to figure out a way to get around a result suggested to be inequitable without any guidance by the court. How was the jury to avoid forcing Shockey to pay for all of the Plaintiffs’ damages, including the damages caused by Ore-Ida? The only guidance came from closing argument.
A third trap was laid for the jury. Counsel argued to the jury that they should send a message to Ore-Ida. The jury wasn’t instructed as to the effect of this message. They weren’t told that the message to Ore-Ida did no good. They were allowed to fall into the trap of believing that their message to Ore-Ida would result in Mary Luna being compensated for her injuries. The comments of the jury foreman seemed to suggest that they fell into this trap.
It’s one thing to state that the policy of the law favors that juries be fully informed of the consequences of their verdict. It’s another thing to suggest that Instruction No. 53 serves that purpose. Use of language such as “may be allowed” and “some or all” patently require speculation. If the policy of the law is to avoid speculation how can language which requires speculation be sanctioned. The phrase “may be allowed” leaves the jury to speculate if when and to what extent it will be allowed. There is no guidance. The jury is just as *201likely to reach an incorrect conclusion as a correct one.
Similarly, use of the phrase “some or all” does not instruct the jury of the consequences of their verdict. They aren’t told whether it is some. They aren’t told whether it is all. They are left to speculate without any guidance. Under what circumstances will it be some? Under what circumstances will it be all? They have no way to know, yet they are called upon to reach some kind of a conclusion as to this issue. If the policy of the law favors that juries not be forced to speculate by being ill-informed, then Instruction No. 53 should not be set forth as an example of an instruction which serves the policy of the law.
If the policy of the law favors instructions that properly instruct juries as to the legal consequences of their decisions, then the Instructions should not contain express statements that certain results are possible when those results cannot happen under Idaho law. If it wasn’t legally possible for Shockey to be forced to pay for “all” of Mary Luna’s damages, including that percentage “caused by Ore-Ida”, and by Mary for that matter, then how can an instruction stating that as a possibility be sanctioned? It’s not a matter of a mere inartful use of language. The Instruction actually uses the term “all.” Its not an innuendo contrary to law, its an express statement contrary to law.
Instruction No. 53 should not be set forth as an example of how juries should be instructed in Idaho. It should be set forth as an example of how juries should not be instructed. Speculation serves no purpose in a jury’s deliberations. Instructions inviting speculation should be rejected in every case. Suggesting possible outcomes which are legally impossible serves no purpose in jury deliberations. Instructions making such suggestions should be rejected in every case.
Instruction No. 53 should not be published as a sanctioned instruction in Idaho. The ramifications of its approval run directly contrary to the policy enunciated by the Court in its original opinion. Juries should be properly and fully informed.
II. Discretionary Costs: The courts opinion holds that the record was sufficient to support the trial court’s award of discretionary costs for photocopies and photography. In so ruling the court ruled that by meeting the verification requirements set forth in I.R.C.P. 54(d) for a memorandum of cost, a sufficient showing was made to meet the requirements of I.R.C.P. 54(d)(1)(D) which states:
(D) Discretionary Costs. Additional items of costs not enumerated in, or in an amount in excess of that listed in sub-paragraph (C), may be allowed upon a showing that said costs were necessary and exceptional costs reasonably incurred, and should in the interest of justice be assessed against the adverse party....
The Lunas ask the court to reconsider the opinion regarding discretionary costs. The basis for the objection to the photocopies and photographs was that Lunas really had no idea what they were called upon to pay for. We don’t know how many photocopies were made, nor why they were made, nor what was done with them. The Lunas don’t know how much they were charged for each page of photocopying. If the charge was $.10 per page, then $323.35 represents 3,223 pages of photocopying. On the other hand if the charge was $1.00 per page it represents 322 pages of photocopying.
A similar problem exists with respect to the claim of photography. The Plaintiffs’ have no way of knowing how the charge was arrived at or what it represents.
In addition to the Plaintiffs’ interest in knowing what it is that they are called upon to pay, there are some policy implications which are not altogether favorable. If the costs are truly discretionary, then in the absence of some showing justifying the exercise of discretion, the award or disallowance of such costs by definition becomes arbitrary. There is no way of measuring whether or not the court abused its discretion. In the absence of a showing, there’s no way of knowing what it is that the court relied upon.
Another dilemma arises when the only “showing” required is a memorandum of *202costs complying with the rule. If the claiming party is not required to show what the discretionary costs were, how they were computed, why they were reasonable and necessary, then it is very difficult for the opposing party to challenge the claimed amounts. Short of subpoenaing adverse counsel and the supporting records, the only logical approach would appear to be stating that the showing was not sufficient. The Lunas did so in this case with an affidavit filed before consideration of their Motion to Disallow Costs. Even though Shockey was put to notice that the Lunas desired more information with respect to the claimed discretionary costs, they declined or failed to file such additional and supporting matters as would establish what it was that they were claiming.
The import of the court’s decision is that this approach to challenging the claim for discretionary costs was not sufficient. If the opposing party desires to have any clarification, or to challenge the claim to discretionary costs, the only way to do so is to subpoena counsel signing the verification and his supporting documentation. It would seem a better approach to focus instead on the duty of the claiming party to establish proper foundation at the outset.
Petitioners’ Brief, pp. 2-8.

. On the second issue a probable solution on contested cost and attorney fees issues would be for the Court to appoint a Master to preside over the dispute and recommend a determination to the Court. For certain I concede that we cannot hold ourselves out as being able to decide such issues merely on affidavits and counter affidavits.