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Dodson v. South Dakota Dep't of Human Services8/10/2005
Argued March 23, 2005
[ .] In this medical malpractice action, Jason Dodson (Jason), individually and as special administrator of the estate of his wife, Kristi M. Dodson (Kristi), appeals from a decision of a Minnehaha County jury that barred any recovery because of Kristi's contributory negligence. Because the trial court erred in how it instructed the jury on the issue of contributory negligence, we reverse and remand for a new trial.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
[ .] Kristi graduated from Pierre High School in 1998. While in high school she was involved in numerous activities and had a wide circle of friends. She lived in Kansas from 1998 to 2000 and then returned to Pierre where she and Jason were married in August 2000. Shortly after the wedding Kristi began to suffer from various health problems as well as erratic behavior.
[ .] On March 21, 2001, Kristi's parents and husband persuaded her to enter McKennan Hospital for evaluation and treatment. While there, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder which is also referred to as manic depression. This is a severe mental illness which is characterized by wide mood alterations or swings between depression and mania and has a high rate of suicide. At the hospital she was severely depressed and on April 1 attempted to commit suicide. Although she was unconscious when found, she was successfully resuscitated. Two days later McKennan Hospital recommended that Kristi be transferred to the South Dakota Human Services Center (HSC) for long term treatment. She was taken to HSC on April 4 and remained there until April 11 when she was discharged. Her husband took her home to Pierre that day and the following day she committed suicide.
[ .] This action was brought by Kristi's estate against Dr. Matthew Stanley and his employer Avera McKennan Hospital, the South Dakota Human Services Center, and Dr. Hartley Alsgaard and his employer the South Dakota Department of Human Services. Appellees raised the affirmative defenses of contributory negligence and assumption of the risk. The case was tried to a jury in Minnehaha County in February 2004. At trial there was a factual dispute as to how and why Kristi was released from HSC. The jury was given the standard instruction on the affirmative defense of contributory negligence which told them to apply an objective reasonable person standard to Kristi's conduct. They were also instructed on the defense of assumption of the risk.
[ .] Following a five day trial, the jury found that Avera McKennan Hospital and Dr. Stanley were not negligent. The jury found that HSC or Dr. Alsgaard breached the applicable standard of care for Kristi and that this breach was the legal cause of her injuries or damages. However, the jury also found that any recovery against these appellees was barred by Kristi's contributory negligence which was more than slight. As a result, the jury did not reach the issue of assumption of the risk.
[ .] Jason appeals raising the following issue:
Whether the trial court erred in instructing the jury on contributory negligence and assumption of the risk.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
[ .] Our standard of review of this issue is settled:
Under our standard of review, we construe jury instructions as a whole to learn if they provided a full and correct statement of the law. If, as a whole, the instructions misled, conflicted, or confused, then reversible error occurred. The party charging that an instruction was given in error has the dual burden of showing that the instruction was erroneous and prejudicial. An erroneous instruction is prejudicial if in all probability it produced
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