Court Opinion

ID: 9552674
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 19:14:58.840187+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:28:36.171482
License: Public Domain

VOLLACK, Justice,
specially concurring:
I concur in the judgment of the court and join the majority opinion except for Part III, concerning the information to be given by the court to the jury in the event that the plaintiff settles with one of the persons who is potentially liable for the plaintiff’s injuries. The majority concludes that, absent special circumstances, the fact of settlement, but not the amount, should be made known to the jury. I disagree and would hold that neither the fact of settlement nor its amount should be revealed to a jury. Accordingly, I would conclude the trial court acted properly in declining to advise the jury of the fact of the settlement in this case.
If a jury is told the plaintiff settled with one of the persons who is potentially liable, the jury may presume the defendant on trial is similarly culpable, or conversely, may presume the culpable party has settled and the remaining party should be held non-liable. Once informed of the fact of settlement, it would be difficult for the jury to ignore this fact and determine the defendant’s liability regardless of the existence of third parties who have settled. Looking at the situation from a practical viewpoint, such knowledge does not eliminate a potential impact on the verdict even if the jury is thoroughly instructed.
*718While limiting instructions may appear to resolve the prejudicial effect of revealing settlement information, in reality it is difficult to tell if the instructions were followed during the jury’s deliberations. Adding more instructions of law to those needed to decide the case further complicates the jury’s difficult task. In my view, it is better to remove this factor from the deliberative process and not expose the jury to the potentially prejudicial information.
While I would not reveal information regarding settlement to the jury, I concur with the result reached in this case.