Hardin v. Ski Venture, Inc.

• Decision Date: 06 April 1995
• Docket Number: No. 94-1674,94-1674
• Citation: 50 F.3d 1291
• Parties: 41 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 1254 Henry L. HARDIN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. SKI VENTURE, INCORPORATED, d/b/a Snowshoe Resort, a West Virginia corporation, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

Page 1291

50 F.3d 1291

41 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 1254

Henry L. HARDIN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. SKI VENTURE, INCORPORATED, d/b/a Snowshoe Resort, a West Virginia corporation, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 94-1674.

United States Court of Appeals Fourth Circuit.

Argued Feb. 1, 1995.

Decided April 6, 1995.

ARGUED: Debra Lynn Hamilton, Ditrapano & Jackson, Charleston, WV, for appellant. Robert Mason Steptoe, Jr., Steptoe & Johnson, Clarksburg, WV, for appellee. ON BRIEF: Rudolph L. Ditrapano, Ditrapano & Jackson, Charleston, WV, for appellant. John R. Merinar, Jr., Steptoe & Johnson, Clarksburg, WV, for appellee.

Before WIDENER and WILKINSON, Circuit Judges, and BUTZNER, Senior Circuit Judge.

Affirmed by published opinion. Judge WILKINSON wrote the majority opinion, in which Judge WIDENER joined. Senior Judge BUTZNER wrote a dissenting opinion.

OPINION

WILKINSON, Circuit Judge:

In this diversity tort action, a jury found that the appellee, Ski Venture, Inc., was not guilty of negligence for the injuries that appellant Henry Hardin suffered in a skiing accident at the Snowshoe Ski Resort. Hardin now contests various rulings by the trial court. Specifically, he complains about the trial court's jury instructions, the partial disqualification of his expert witness, and the court's refusal to sanction the alleged failure of defendant to be more forthcoming in discovery. Because we find no error in the trial proceedings, we affirm the judgment entered on the jury's verdict.

I.

The skiing accident at issue in this case took place at the Snowshoe Ski Resort in West Virginia on February 24, 1990. Appellant was skiing an expert trail with his friends, Cindy Jacobs and Mark Degoursey. During his second run down the slope, Hardin skied through a plume of snow projected from a snowmaking machine. Hardin alleged that the artificial snow froze on his goggles, blinding him and causing him to lose control. He ran off the trail and struck a tree, where he sustained severe injuries that left him quadriplegic.

Hardin sued Ski Venture, Inc., the owner and operator of Snowshoe Resort. He alleged that the defendant had been negligent in the placement and operation of its snowmaking machines. Three specific bases of liability were pressed. First, Hardin argued that the snowmaking machines were pointed uphill, in violation of Snowshoe's own policy as well as industry safety standards. Second, Hardin maintained that the snow was too wet for safety on an open trail, again in violation of the resort's policy. Had the snow been drier, he argued, it would not have frozen on his goggles. Third, Hardin argued that the clear area past the snowmaking plume was not wide enough to allow "good skier flow." In support of his position, Hardin offered testimony from various witnesses to the accident, his own testimony, and an expert. The district court restricted the plaintiff's expert, Dr. Alan Caskey, from testifying about snowmaking or the conditions on the day in question, but did allow him to testify regarding the defendant's safety policy itself.

The defendant raised the affirmative defense of assumption of risk, arguing that the West Virginia Skiing Responsibility Act placed the burden of care on the plaintiff. ^* Snowshoe offered evidence that Hardin had been skiing too fast, too close to the edge of the trail, and in a manner beyond his ability. Defendant also argued it had not been negligent in its operation of the snowmaking equipment. It noted that the snowgun was pointed uphill because snowguns must be pointed with the wind, and that only half the trail was covered by the plume, leaving more than adequate room to pass the snowmaking area. Defendant also offered eyewitness testimony that Hardin's skiing did not appear to be affected by the snowmaking operation. At the close of trial, the jury returned a verdict for the defendant, and the court entered judgment on that verdict. The jury did not reach the assumption of risk question, as it found that defendant had not been negligent in its maintenance of the ski trail. Plaintiff now appeals.

II.

We first consider appellant's challenge to the district court's jury instructions. Hardin raises two distinct claims of error in this context. First, he argues that the trial court erred when it failed to include his two instructions on his specific theory of the case. These proposed instructions summarized his contentions about wet snow and the direction of the snow gun. Second, appellant claims that the instructions as a whole were weighted in favor of the ski resort, containing extraneous material that could have confused the jury. These instructions failed to fairly and adequately instruct the jury, Hardin argues, thereby prejudicing his case.

While the content of jury instructions in a diversity case is a matter of state law, the form of those instructions is governed by federal law. See, e.g., Brown v. Petrolite Corp., 965 F.2d 38, 50 (5th. Cir.1992); Simmons, Inc. v. Pinkerton's Inc., 762 F.2d 591, 595 (7th Cir.1985). District courts are necessarily vested with a great deal of discretion in constructing the specific form and content of jury instructions. Price v. Glosson Motor Lines, Inc., 509 F.2d 1033, 1036 (4th Cir.1975). By no means are they required to accept all the suggested instructions offered by the parties. See, e.g., Joy v. Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc., 999 F.2d 549, 556 (D.C.Cir.1993). So long as the charge is accurate on the law and does not confuse or mislead the jury, it is not erroneous. Spell v. McDaniel, 824 F.2d 1380, 1395 (4th Cir.1987), cert. denied sub. nom., City of Fayetteville v. Spell, 484 U.S. 1027, 108 S.Ct. 752, 98 L.Ed.2d 765 (1988). A set of legally accurate instructions that does not effectively direct a verdict for one side or the other is generally adequate. On review, jury instructions must also be viewed as a whole. Thornhill v. Donnkenny, Inc., 823 F.2d 782, 787 (4th Cir.1987). When the jury charge here is considered in its entirety, it is clear that the trial court provided an accurate overview of the pertinent legal principles and achieved an adequate degree of balance and fairness.

A.

First, neither side was granted the specificity that plaintiff argues he was unfairly denied. Rather, the district court discussed each party's theory of the case in general terms. The court initially noted that Hardin's cause of action alleged that Snowshoe "negligently failed to maintain the Grabhammer trail in a reasonably safe condition." The court then proceeded to explain that defendant owed plaintiff "the duty of every person to exercise ordinary care in conduct toward others." It stated that in order to decide whether ordinary care was used, "the conduct in question must be viewed in the light of all surrounding circumstances." Moreover, the court explained that the West Virginia Skiing Responsibility Act imposed a statutory duty on the defendant to "[m]aintain the ski areas in reasonably safe condition." It further stated that defendant could be found negligent if it "failed to exercise ordinary care in the operation of its snow making equipment." It also reviewed the concepts of proximate cause and canvassed the rules of damages.

The instructions for the defendant were likewise general in tone and content. The trial court discussed the duties imposed on skiers by the Act, as well as those areas where the Act exempted ski resorts from liability, quoting directly from the statute as it did so. It also reviewed the defendant's affirmative defenses. First, it noted that defendant asserted contributory negligence, which the court defined in the same general terms as negligence. The court also stated that "the burden of proving that [defense] ... is upon the defendant." Second, the court defined the defense of assumption of risk and noted that defendant had to prove "[t]hat a hazardous condition existed at the time Mr. Hardin skied the Grabhammer trail ..., [t]hat Mr. Hardin had actual knowledge of the hazardous or dangerous condition, appreciated the risks involved, but proceeded to take some action" such as the failure "to ski within the limits of his ability [or] to maintain reasonable control of speed and course at all times while skiing." Nowhere did the court go into great detail about defendant's evidence or contentions, just as it did not discuss plaintiff's evidence or contentions in great depth.

That was not error. A court is not required to comment on specific evidence in the course of giving a jury instruction, and indeed often is well-advised not to. Duke v. Uniroyal, Inc., 928 F.2d 1413, 1421 (4th Cir.) (noting that refusal to single out particular evidence is "often a sensible approach to evenhandedness in the presentation of the law."), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 963, 112 S.Ct. 429, 116 L.Ed.2d 449 (1991). It is of course open to the trial judge to comment on such evidence in the course of an instruction, but it is also reasonable for a court to believe that such comments may carry unacceptable risks of removing from the jury its critical task of assigning weight to the evidence presented. See Quercia v. United States, 289 U.S. 466, 470, 53 S.Ct. 698, 699, 77 L.Ed. 1321 (1933) (stating that judges must be careful in instructions to limit comments on evidence so as not to sway or mislead jury); see also 9A Wright & Miller Sec. 2557 (1995) (noting that courts are never required to comment on evidence). Similarly, courts must have the flexibility in instructions to avoid confusing or prejudicial statements that might arise from a discussion of the specific contentions in a case. See Adams v. Sewell, 946 F.2d 757, 768 (11th Cir.1991) (finding no error in refusal to give more detailed proposed instruction on law when proposed instruction was "potentially confusing"). Different trial judges may have different preferences in this regard, and we decline to elevate any one preference to the status of circuit law. So long as the jury instructions are...