Court Opinion

ID: 9708049
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 02:28:44.33448+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:22:41.648445
License: Public Domain

Hallows, C. J.
(concurring). I think the rule should be changed so that a jury can be told the meaning of their verdict. See my dissent in Vincent v. Pabst Brewing Co. (1970), 47 Wis. 2d 120, 139, 177 N. W. 2d 513. We now tell a jury the result of its finding in insanity cases. See State v. Shoffner (1966), 31 Wis. 2d 412, 428, 143 N. W. 2d 458. It is better for a knowledgeable jury to be correctly informed of its duty than to let an uninformed jury make an erroneous guess in its search for the truth. The special verdict is no longer strictly a factual inquiry; the jury is asked to apply the law in most cases the same as it does in a general verdict and to give its community orientated judgment without the aid of guidelines to the question concerning the apportionment of negligence. The court should be allowed to instruct the jury, not only of the *527effect of their apportionment answer, but that if it is not sustained by the evidence it may be set aside or modified by the court. If the jury knew the full extent and the limitation of its role and the role of the court in the trial of a lawsuit, their verdicts would be more realistic and just.