Court Opinion

ID: 9579686
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 21:57:31.139201+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:35:40.694031
License: Public Domain

MOSES, Circuit Judge
(dissenting).
A cause of action for negligence requires four elements: 1) a duty; 2) a breach of that duty; 3) proximate cause; and 4) actual loss, damage or injury. Goff v. Wang, 296 N.W.2d 729 (S.D.1980); Leslie v. City of Bonesteel, 303 N.W.2d 117 (S.D.1981); Johnson v. Jongeling, 328 N.W.2d 275 (S.D.1983). If the jury finds each of these elements present, it must fix an amount of money, if any, that would reasonably and fairly compensate the plaintiffs for the loss suffered in person or property proved by the evidence to have been proximately caused by the negligence of the defendant. Lien v. McGladrey & Pullen, 509 N.W.2d 421 (S.D.1993).
In this case, the defendant filed an “Admission of Legal Liability.” The trial court instructed the jury, giving them two jury verdict forms: one for the plaintiffs and one for the defendant. _ The jury returned the verdict for the defendant on all of the issues.
The issue is whether the trial court erred in submitting a verdict form for the defendant on all of the issues when the defendants had previously admitted liability.
In any civil ease where liability is admitted, the only issue for the jury to consider is the question of damages proximately caused by the accident. There is no need to present the issue of liability to the jury in a verdict form once liability is admitted.
The question before us is whether the document entitled “Admission of Legal Liability” is an admission of liability, in which case the only issue for the jury to resolve is the question of damages, or whether is it an admission of negligence, leaving the issue of proximate cause and the question of damages for the jury.
Here the majority has ruled that the jury verdict for the defendant in this case is satisfactory because what the defendant really meant by his admission of legal liability is that he only admitted to the negligence of the accident and left the issues of proximate cause and any resulting damages for the jury. We can understand that, if you accept the majority interpretation of this “Admission of Legal Liability” that the defendant only admitted “negligence,” it would follow that two jury verdict forms should have been provided. However, I am not sure that the “Admission of Legal Liability,” based on the interpretation given it by the majority, has any effect on the resolution of this case. If it is not an admission of legal liability but only an admission of negligence, there would be no need to file such a document to admit negligence.
If a party files an “Admission of Legal Liability” it means to me that there is nothing left to determine on the liability issue, and only the issue of damages must be determined by the jury. The perimeters of what is needed and allowed into evidence to prove this issue has been reviewed and decided in several cases starting with Piper v. Barber Transportation Co., 79 S.D. 353, 112 N.W.2d 329 (1961). In Piper, the Court noted that when an issue has been removed from a case by an admission, it is error to receive evidence which is material solely to the excluded matter. Id., 112 N.W.2d at 336.
Based on the circumstances of this case and the jury verdicts presented, the intention of the jury is not clear, certain nor free from *527ambiguity under the verdict rendered in this case. Anderson v. Paulson, 77 S.D. 583, 96 N.W.2d 305 (1959). When the intention of the jury is a matter of surmise or inference, such a verdict is insufficient within the purview of SDCL 15-14-30. Anderson, supra 96 N.W.2d at 306.
One can argue that the jury, in effect, found zero damages for the plaintiffs by coming back with the verdict for the defendant on all of the issues. However, if the admission of legal liability means anything, there only needed to have been one verdict form submitted to the jury, for the amount of damages allowed, if any, to the plaintiffs.
I would reverse for a new trial only on the issue of damages, for the plaintiff holding that the defendant’s “Admission of Legal Liability” has removed the liability issue from consideration of the jury using only one jury verdict form for the plaintiffs.
As to the remaining issues on the taxation of costs and notice of review, I concur with the majority.
Justice SABERS joins in this dissent and I have been authorized to so state.