Court Opinion

ID: 9561793
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 18:16:26.923616+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:14:28.247713
License: Public Domain

WILKINS, Justice
(concurring in result with comments).
Concerning plaintiff’s claim that he was not afforded an opportunity to make objections to the instruction until after the jury had retired, I make these comments.
Rule 51 of the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure, in relevant part, states:
. If the instructions are to be given in writing, all objections thereto must be made before the instructions are given to the jury; otherwise, objections may be made to the instructions after they are given to the jury, but before the jury retires to consider its verdict .
Plaintiff failed to make a timely objection to the court’s procedure though he could have. His failure to do so constituted a failure, therefore, to make his objections to instructions. Thus, the relevant part of Rule 51 on this point that “. . .No party may assign as error the giving or the fail[ing] to give an instruction unless he objects thereto . . .” (emphasis added) is applicable and controlling in this case. And I see no persuasive reason in the record for this Court to invoke review because of exceptional circumstances. McCall v. Kendrick, 2 Utah 2d 364, 274 P.2d 962, 963 (1954).
MAUGHAN, J., concurs in the views expressed in the concurring opinion of WILKINS, J.