 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Addakai v. Witt9/11/2001
Appeal from the District Court of Sweetwater County: The Honorable Jere A. Ryckman, Judge
[ ] Appellants Addakais became interested in buying a thoroughbred mare from appellees Witts and, after providing a down payment, requested an opportunity to ride the horse while it was still on the Witts' premises. While on a test ride, Mrs. Addakai was thrown from the horse and sustained injury. The Addakais sued alleging, inter alia, negligence, negligent misrepresentation, strict liability, and conversion (the down payment was not returned). The district court granted the Witts partial summary judgment on the strict liability issue, and a jury found in favor of the Witts on the remaining counts. The Addakais appeal claiming misleading jury instructions and irregularities in the special verdict form. Finding that the instructions were a proper reflection of the law and that the Addakais failed to properly reserve the special verdict form issue for appeal, we affirm.
ISSUES
[ ] Appellants Addakais articulate two issues:
Whether appellants should receive a new trial on their negligence claims due to the misleading, confusing and prejudicial jury instruction under the Landowner Liability Act.
Whether appellants should receive a new trial on their negligence claims due to irregularities surrounding the special verdict form which deprived appellants of a fair and impartial jury, and resulted in a verdict contrary to the weight of the evidence.
Appellees Witts expand a bit on the same general theme in their statement of the issues:
Was the jury instruction relative to landowner liability an accurate statement of the law and relevant[?]
Can appellants now object to a verdict form when they did not object to the verdict form at trial[?]
Did the verdict form cause the jury to reach a verdict contrary to the weight of the evidence[?]
FACTS
[ ] The horse at the center of this controversy is a thoroughbred bay mare named Cindy Mist. Cindy Mist was purchased by a third party shortly after she retired from racing at Vernal, Utah, and then sold to a gentleman by the name of Bill Haines. Mr. Haines, 85 years of age at the time, retrained Cindy Mist using a snaffle bit, although he and a female acquaintance frequently rode the horse using nothing but a hackamore. A hackamore, also known as a bosal, is a rigid oval, usually made from braided rawhide, fitting around the horse's nose. There is no bit in the horse's mouth, and commands are given by applying pressure to the horse's nose and jaw.
[ ] In early 1994, Dr. Clayton Van Balen purchased Cindy Mist from Bill Haines. Dr. Van Balen never observed the horse behaving in any other than the most gentle fashion, and his affidavit to that effect was read into the trial transcript. Appellee Bill Witt had ridden virtually his entire life, but Mrs. Witt was just learning to ride. One of those riders with whom Cindy Mist was so gentle, according to Dr. Van Balen's affidavit, was Mrs. Witt.
[ ] While working at the Jim Bridger Power Plant near Rock Springs, the Addakais were on the lookout for a horse to purchase and were referred for that purpose to the Witts by a veterinarian. After two preliminary viewings of Cindy Mist, the Addakais agreed to purchase the animal for $1,000, giving the Witts a $500 down payment and planning to take the horse back to their home in Arizona at the conclusion of their job .
[ ] On May 12, 1995, the Addakais called Mr. Witt to inquire about coming by for a "test ride" of Cindy Mist. When the Addakais arrived at the corrals, Cindy Mist was fitted with a western saddl
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 Wyoming Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|