TRIAL JUDGE’S INSTRUCTIONS TO THE JURORS AFTER THEY RETURNED AN INCONSISTENT VERDICT WERE INADEQUATE, NEW TRIAL ORDERED 2ND DEPT.

The Second Department determined the trial judge’s responses to an inconsistent verdict were inadequate and ordered a new trial , granting defendant’s motion to set aside the verdict. The jury, in this lead-paint poisoning case, found that the defendant property owner was negligent but that the negligence was not the proximate cause of the injury. However the jury went on to award plaintiff $250,000 in damages. The judge sent the jury back, instructing them that they could not award damages unless they found the negligence was the proximate cause of the injuries. The judge did not inform the jury they could adhere to their original finding on proximate cause. The jury returned a second verdict, this time finding defendant’s negligence was the proximate cause of the injuries:

Here, the jury’s first verdict was internally inconsistent when it awarded damages to the plaintiff despite finding that the defendant’s negligence was not a substantial factor in causing the plaintiff’s injuries … . Thus, the Supreme Court properly directed the jury to reconsider the verdict. Notwithstanding, the record supports the conclusion that the second round of deliberations resulted in an unreliable verdict … . Specifically, the court failed to provide clear instructions to the jury regarding how to proceed with respect to the interrogatories concerning damages if it again found that the defendant’s negligence was not a substantial factor in causing the plaintiff’s injuries. This failure may have induced the jury to decide, out of confusion or frustration, to simply forgo the issue altogether by finding that the defendant’s negligence was a substantial factor in causing the plaintiff’s injuries. Moreover, the court’s response to the jury note to simply follow the instructions on the new verdict sheet was inadequate. ” Even after reconsideration by the jury, a trial court has discretion to set aside a verdict which is clearly the product of substantial confusion among the jurors'” … . Under these circumstances, the court should have granted that branch of the defendant’s motion which was to set aside the second jury verdict and directed a new trial … . Cleveland v Djeu, 2017 NY Slip Op 05417, 2nd Dept 7-5-17

CIVIL PROCEDURE (MOTION TO SET ASIDE VERDICT, TRIAL JUDGE’S INSTRUCTIONS TO THE JURORS AFTER THEY RETURNED AN INCONSISTENT VERDICT WERE INADEQUATE, NEW TRIAL ORDERED 2ND DEPT)/NEGLIGENCE (CIVIL PROCEDURE, INCONSISTENT VERDICT, TRIAL JUDGE’S INSTRUCTIONS TO THE JURORS AFTER THEY RETURNED AN INCONSISTENT VERDICT WERE INADEQUATE, NEW TRIAL ORDERED 2ND DEPT)/TOXIC TORTS (LEAD PAINT, MOTION TO SET ASIDE VERDICT, TRIAL JUDGE’S INSTRUCTIONS TO THE JURORS AFTER THEY RETURNED AN INCONSISTENT VERDICT WERE INADEQUATE, NEW TRIAL ORDERED 2ND DEPT)/LEAD PAINT (MOTION TO SET ASIDE VERDICT, TRIAL JUDGE’S INSTRUCTIONS TO THE JURORS AFTER THEY RETURNED AN INCONSISTENT VERDICT WERE INADEQUATE, NEW TRIAL ORDERED 2ND DEPT)/VERDICT, MOTION TO SET ASIDE (TRIAL JUDGE’S INSTRUCTIONS TO THE JURORS AFTER THEY RETURNED AN INCONSISTENT VERDICT WERE INADEQUATE, NEW TRIAL ORDERED 2ND DEPT)/JURY INSTRUCTIONS (CIVIL PROCEDURE, INCONSISTENT VERDICT, TRIAL JUDGE’S INSTRUCTIONS TO THE JURORS AFTER THEY RETURNED AN INCONSISTENT VERDICT WERE INADEQUATE, NEW TRIAL ORDERED 2ND DEPT)