Rittenour v. Gibson’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

17 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 18 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Jury instructions must correctly and adequately inform the jury of the applicable law and must not mislead or confuse the jury. When considering the correctness of jury instructions, we will view them as a whole. The instructions will be allowed if, as a whole, they fairly advise the jury of the law on the essential issues in the case. In evaluating whether the district court abused its discretion in instructing the jury, we will first determine whether the district court committed error in its instruction, and then, if so, whether that error was harmless. Rule 61, N.D.R.Civ.P., states our harmless-error standard in civil cases: No error in either the admission or the exclusion of evidence and no error or defect in any ruling or order or in anything done or omitted by the court or by any of the parties is ground for granting a new trial or for setting aside a verdict or for vacating, modifying or otherwise disturbing a judgment or order, unless refusal to take such action appears to the court inconsistent with substantial justice. The court at every stage of the proceeding must disregard any error or defect in the proceeding which does not affect the substantial rights of the parties.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Haider v. Moen

2. ““We uphold special verdicts on appeal whenever possible and set aside a jury special verdict only if it is perverse and contrary to the evidence.” Anderson v. Jacobson, 2001 ND 40, ¶ 6 , 622 N.W.2d 730 (citing Fontes v. Dixon, 544 N.W.2d 869, 871 (N.D.1996)). We will examine both the law of the case and the evidence to determine whether the verdict is logical and probable or whether it is perverse and clearly contrary to the evidence. Id.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Travelers Casualty Insurance Co. of America v. Williams Co. Construction, Inc.

3. “We view the evidence in the light most favorable to a defendant to decide if there is sufficient evidence to support a jury instruction. A court errs if it refuses to instruct the jury on an issue that has been adequately raised, but the court may refuse to give an instruction that is irrelevant or inapplicable.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the dissent
   e.g. State v. Pavlicek