In re Adoption of 2008 Revisions to Oklahoma Jury Instructions Civil, 2008 OK 93 (Okla. 10/14/2008)
| Decision Date | 14 October 2008 |
| Docket Number | No. SCAD-2008-77.,SCAD-2008-77. |
| Citation | 2008 OK 93 |
| Parties | IN RE: ADOPTION OF THE 2008 REVISIONS TO OKLAHOMA JURY INSTRUCTIONS CIVIL (SECOND EDITION) |
| Court | Oklahoma Supreme Court |
ORDER ADOPTING AMENDMENTS TO OKLAHOMA UNIFORM JURY INSTRUCTIONS — CIVIL (SECOND EDITION)
¶1 The Court has reviewed the report and recommendations of the Oklahoma Supreme Court Committee for Uniform Civil Jury Instructions for adoption of the proposed revisions. The Court accepts that report and finds the revisions should be ordered adopted.
¶2 It is therefore ordered, adjudged and decreed that the revisions shall be available for access via the internet from the Court website at www.oscn.net and provided to West Publishing Company for publication. The Administrative Office of the Courts is requested to duplicate and provide copies of the revisions to the judges of the District Courts and the District Courts of the State of Oklahoma are directed to implement the utilization of these revisions effective 30 days from the date of this order.
¶3 It is therefore ordered, adjudged and decreed the amendments to existing OUJI-C 2d instructions, and the adoption of new instructions, as set out in the following designated instructions and attached to this order, are adopted to wit:
1.4, 1.8A, 1.20, 1.21, 2.5, 4.14, 4.16, 5.5, 5.9, 6.16, 9.8A, 9.8B, 9.8C, Preface to Comparative Negligence Instructions, 12.12, 26.1, 26.2, 26.3, 26.4, 26.5, 271.1, 272.2
¶4 The Court also accepts and authorizes the updated committee comments to be published, together with the above styled revisions and each amended page in the revisions to be noted at the bottom as follows (2008 Supp.)
¶5 As it did so previously, the Court today declines to relinquish its constitutional or statutory authority to review the legal correctness of these authorized instructions when it is called upon to afford corrective relief in any adjudicative context.
These rules will take effect 30 days from the date this order is filed.
DONE BY ORDER OF THE SUPREME COURT IN CONFERENCE THIS 9 TH DAY OF OCTOBER, 2008.
/s/Vice Chief Justice
ALL JUSTICES CONCUR
Chapter One
OUJI No. 1.4 JURY'S DUTIES-CAUTIONARY INSTRUCTIONS-TO BE GIVEN AFTER JURY IS SWORN
Members of the Jury: I will now explain to you your duties as jurors. It is vital to the administration of justice that you fully understand and faithfully perform these duties.
It is my duty to determine all of the law applicable to this case and to inform you of that law by these instructions and by the instructions that I will give you after all evidence has been received. It is your duty to accept and follow all of these instructions as a whole, not accepting one or more of these instructions and disregarding the others.
It is your duty to determine the facts of this case from the evidence produced in open court. You should consider only the evidence introduced while the court is in session. It is then your duty to apply the law, as determined by the court, to the facts as determined by you, and thus render a verdict. You should not allow sympathy or prejudice to influence your decision. Your decision should be based upon probabilities, and not possibilities. It may not be based upon speculation or guesswork.
The evidence which you are to consider consists of the testimony of the witnesses; the exhibits, if any, admitted into evidence; any facts admitted or agreed to by the attorneys; and any facts which I instruct you to accept as true. The term "witness" means anyone who testifies in person, or by deposition, including the parties.
In addition, you are permitted to draw such reasonable inferences from the testimony and exhibits as you feel are justified when considered with the aid of the knowledge which you each possess in common with other persons. You may make deductions and reach conclusions which reason and common sense lead you to draw from the facts which you find to have been established by the testimony and evidence in the case.
The production of evidence in court is governed by rules of law. From time to time it may be the duty of the attorneys to object to the production of evidence and my duty to rule on these objections. If I say the objection is sustained, you must not consider the testimony or exhibit covered by the objection. If I say the objection is overruled, you may consider the testimony or exhibit covered by the objection. The attorney's objections, and my rulings upon these objections, together with the reasons for these objections and rulings are not evidence and should not be considered by you.
The statements, remarks and arguments of the attorneys are intended to help you in understanding the evidence and applying the law, but are not evidence. If any statement, remark or argument of an attorney has no basis in the evidence, then you should disregard it.
You are the sole judges of the believability of each witness and the value to be given the testimony of each. You should take into consideration the witness's means of knowledge, strength of memory and opportunities of observation. Also consider the reasonableness, consistency or inconsistency of the testimony. You should also consider the bias, prejudice or interest, if any, the witness may have in the outcome of the trial, the conduct of the witness upon the witness stand and all other facts and circumstances that affect the believability of the witness.
My rulings and remarks made during the course of this trial are not intended to indicate my opinion as to the facts. During all recesses and adjournments, while this case is in progress, you must not discuss this case, or anything about this case, with anyone, and you must not allow anyone to discuss it with you. This rule applies not only to court employees, the attorneys involved in this case, and others you may meet in the courthouse, but also to your husband and wife, other members of your family, your friends and anyone else you may meet. If during the trial anyone talks to you or tries to talk to you about this case, you must immediately report it to me, or the [(clerk of the court)/bailiff], who will report to me.
Do not, before this case is finally submitted to you for a decision, talk to your fellow jurors about this case, or anything about this case, or form or express any opinion about it.
[Do not read newspaper reports about this trial, and do not watch or listen to television or radio reports about it.] Do not read newspaper reports or obtain information from the internet about this trial or the issues, parties or witnesses involved in this case, and do not watch or listen to television or radio reports about it. Do not attempt to visit the scene or investigate this case on your own.
The reasons for these rules are that it is essential that you should keep your minds free and open at all times throughout this trial and that you should not be influenced by anything except the evidence you hear and see in the courtroom.
From now on, at the beginning of each recess or adjournment, I will refer to these instructions as "my instructions" or "my usual instructions," but whether or not this is done, you will carefully observe these rules at all times.
Unless the case has attracted or is likely to attract the attention of the media, the bracketed paragraph concerning newspaper reports and the like should not be given to the jury.
Before excusing the jurors for recesses and adjournments, the judge should remind them not to discuss the case. The following Instruction is suggested:
At this time, let me remind you not to discuss this case, or anything about this case, with anyone [(during the recess)/(while court is adjourned)], and do not allow anyone to discuss it with you. If anyone talks to you or tries to talk to you about this case, you are instructed to report it immediately either to me or to the [(clerk of the court)/bailiff].
OUJI NO. 1.8A CLOSING INSTRUCTION-TO BE GIVEN AFTER THE EVIDENCE
The Court has made rulings during this trial. In ruling, the Court has not in any way suggested to you the weight or credit to be given any evidence or testimony received during the trial, nor intimated in any way what you should decide in this case.
You are the judges of the facts. The importance and worth of the evidence and testimony is for you to decide. From all the testimony heard and evidence seen by you during the trial, and using the reasoning which you each have, you will make your decision. You should perform your duties as jurors impartially and faithfully, under your oath.
The law provides that you should now listen to and consider the arguments of counsel, which are a proper part of this case.
This Instruction should be given at the conclusion of the jury instructions, immediately before the closing arguments of counsel.
[Defendant] has raised the statute of limitations as an affirmative defense to the claim of [Plaintiff] for [Specify Type of Claim]. [Defendant] has the burden of proving by the greater weight of the evidence that the claim was barred by the statute of limitations. A statute of limitations is a law that a case is barred if a plaintiff does not file the case within a specified period of time. The statute of limitations for the claim for [Specify Type of Claim] is [Specify Limitation Period], and the date that [Plaintiff] filed this case was [Date]. In this case, the statute of limitations required [Plaintiff] to file this case within [Specify Limitation Period] from [Specify Applicable Time for Accrual of Claim, e.g., the date of breach of the contract, the date of injury, the date when [Plaintiff] knew or reasonably should have known of the injury and its cause].
This Instruction should be used in cases where a statute of limitations defense presents a jury question. In many cases, a statute of limitations defense will be subject to the...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
ATS Grp., LLC v. Legacy Tank & Indus. Servs. LLC, CIV-18-944-R
...OK CIV APP 85, 310 P.3d 1106. Additionally, Oklahoma Uniform Jury Instruction No. 26.3, adopted by the Oklahoma Supreme Court on October 14, 2008, 2008 OK 93, specifically references Restatement (Third) of Agency §§ 8.01 -8.12, and OUJI 26.2 reads, "[y]ou are instructed that if you determin......