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Loen v. Anderson1/19/2005
e date specified in the verdict or decision. . . . If necessary, special interrogatories shall be submitted to the jury. Pre-judgment interest on damages arising from a contract shall be at the contract rate, if so provided in the contract; otherwise, if pre-judgment interest is awarded, it shall be the Category B rate specified in ยง 54-3-16. The court shall compute and award the interest provided in this section and shall include such interest in the judgment in the same manner as it taxes costs. (emphasis added).
SDCL 21-1-13.1.
[ .] An award of pre-judgment interest is mandatory. Alvine v. Mercedes Benz of North America, 2001 SD 3, 29, 620 NW2d 608, 614. When instructing the jury as to pre-judgment interest they must be told that the interest is mandatory when damages are recoverable and not within their discretion. Id. The instructing court shall request that the jury determine the amount of loss and the date such loss occurred. Id. Additionally, pursuant to SDCL 15-6-49(b), special interrogatories should be used to help the court determine the amount of damages that the jury has awarded for economic loss. If such interrogatories are used, the jury must be instructed in such a way that enables them to answer not only the general verdict form, but also the special interrogatory. It is the jury's duty to determine and identify the amount of economic loss, if any, and the date the loss occurred. It is then the court's duty, based on the jury's determination, to compute the amount of pre-judgment interest to be awarded and to include that amount in its judgment.
CONCLUSION
[ .] The trial court entered various orders in limine before and during the trial of the case. The trial court's orders were specific in their prohibitions. Welter's violations of those orders were clear and intentional. Loens were prejudiced by Welter's misconduct and were denied a fair trial. Consequently, they are entitled to a new trial with a proper instruction to the jury concerning pre-judgment interest.
[ .] Reversed and remanded.
[ .] LOVRIEN, Circuit Judge, for SABERS, Justice, disqualified.
[ .] GORS, Circuit Judge, for ZINTER, Justice, disqualified.
[ .] GILBERTSON, Chief Justice, and KONENKAMP and MEIERHENRY, Justices, and GORS, Circuit Judge, concur.
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