Court Opinion

ID: 9770524
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 16:08:17.191801+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:31:18.090382
License: Public Domain

HANNA, Judge,
concurring.
Although I agree with the majority’s result, I disagree that the facts warrant plain error review under Rule 84.13(e).
In Fowler v. Park Corp., our Supreme Court criticized counsel’s failure to register objections at the instruction conference by *153remaining silent. 673 S.W.2d 749, 756 (Mo. banc 1984). Since then, the Court has promulgated Rule 70.03, which mandates that counsel make specific objections to instructions “stating distinctly the matter objected to and the grounds of the objection.” Here, the trial court at the instruction conference, after delineating the instructions on the record, asked trial counsel, “Those are the instructions that I’m going to offer and the reason for the instructions. Are there any specific objections from ... the plaintiff?” Plaintiffs’ counsel responded, “No sir.” Appellant has made no request on appeal that we review this point for manifest injustice. Nevertheless, the majority has done so.
The general and well-established rule of law is that the court of appeals’ review is limited to those issues first raised before the trial court. Ibarra v. Missouri Poster & Sign Co., 838 S.W.2d 35 (Mo.App.1992).1 We should not convict the trial court of error unless it had the opportunity to correct the matter. Plain error review is an exception to this well-grounded law and is only used in cases where it is facially obvious there is substantial ground to believe that manifest injustice has resulted. State v. Brown, 902 S.W.2d 278 (Mo. banc 1995). There are obvious and compelling reasons for Missouri’s rule that failure to object to the closing argument, proffer of evidence or court instructions will exclude the matter from appellate review. Because no objection was made here, the case should be affirmed without further discourse.
The doctrine of plain error is rarely applied in civil eases. Robertson v. Cameron Mut. Ins. Co., 855 S.W.2d 442 (Mo.App.1993). In order for the appellate court to grant relief under the plain error rule, the appellant must “go beyond a mere showing of demonstrable prejudice to show manifest prejudice affecting his substantial rights.” State v. Hornbuckle, 769 S.W.2d 89, 93 (Mo. banc), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 860, 110 S.Ct. 171, 107 L.Ed.2d 128 (1989) and State v. Parker, 856 S.W.2d 331, 332 (Mo. banc 1993). The appellant must demonstrate that the error affected his rights so substantially that a miscarriage of justice or manifest injustice will occur if the error is left uneorrected. Id. at 333. The burden is on the appellant to prove the decisive effect on the jury. Id. In this ease, the appellant has not even requested plain error review, let alone sustained her burden. Appellate review is properly reserved for those situations in which hatred, passion, or prejudice has been engendered causing manifest injustice or a miscarriage of justice. Sherpy v. Bilyeu, 608 S.W.2d 521, 523 (Mo.App.1980). This court used the same language in Pruitt v. Community Tire Co., 678 S.W.2d 424 (Mo.App.1984), when considering the exact issue here; whether there was sufficient evidence to support a jury instruction. Id. at 430.
“The plain error rule should be used sparingly and does not justify a review of every trial error that has not been properly preserved for appellate review.” State v. McMillin, 783 S.W.2d 82, 98 (Mo. banc 1990). In Sherpy, the defendant argued that any negligence of the plaintiff, however slight, was sufficient to bar her recovery, which was a clear misstatement of the law. Plaintiff’s counsel failed to object, giving the trial court no opportunity to take corrective action. This court held the plaintiff waived the objection and in declining to review the issue as plain error stated, “Plain error is not a doctrine available to revive issues already abandoned by selection of trial strategy or by oversight.” 608 S.W.2d at 523. A party cannot play a game of chance by failing to object to the alleged misconduct or trial error and then expect appellate review if the result proves unfavorable. Baumgartner v. Bi-State Dev. Agency, 811 S.W.2d 63 (Mo.App.1991).
Brown instructs that the error must facially cause a substantial belief that manifest injustice has occurred. The jury instruction and argument here fall far short of hatred, passion, or prejudice resulting in manifest injustice or a miscarriage of justice. A cursory inquiry finds the appellant driving her automobile on a dark and unfamiliar county *154road at 50 miles per hour. She was unable to slow down to make a turn she expected to make, resulting in her collision with an embankment. These facts do not “facially” establish substantial grounds to believe that speed was not a factor in the accident.
The majority also reviews the closing argument concerning the double arrow sign under the plain error doctrine. The majority’s gratuitous plain error review gives the wrong signal to the bar and sets an erroneous precedent.
I would deny both points as waived since there was no objection to the instruction or closing argument and facially there are no substantial grounds to believe that manifest injustice or a miscarriage of justice resulted.

. Obvious exceptions are questions of subject matter jurisdiction and sufficiency of the pleadings to state a claim upon which relief can be granted or a legal defense to a claim. Grippe v. Momtazee, 696 S.W.2d 797 (Mo. banc 1985).