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87 Minn. 242

Applebee v. Perry

Supreme Court of Minnesota

Decided October 24, 1902

Supreme Court of Minnesota · decided 1902-10-24

<p>Charge to Jury — Omission of Counsel to Mention Defect.</p> <p>The well-settled rule in this state that the omission of material instructions, or indefiniteness or insufficiency or even obscurity, in the charge of the court, is no ground for error or for a new trial, where the attention of the court was not specifically called to the defect at the time of the trial, has not been affected by the passage of Laws 1901, c. 113.</p> <p>Verdict — Evidence.</p> <p>Held, that the evidence at the trial abundantly supported the verdict in this case.</p>

Key passage — most relied on by later courts

““It is well settled in our state that the omission of material instructions, or indefiniteness or insufficiency or even obscurity, in the charge of the court, is no ground for error or for a new trial, when the attention of the court was not at the time specifically called to the defect, and further and more definite instructions asked for.””

quoted by 1 later decision, including Storey v. Weinberg

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Affirmed · Decided 1902-10-24

How this case has been cited

Cited by 13 later decisions — most recently June 1950

13 state decisions

40190219101920193019401950decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

COLLINS, J.

¶1The gist of the first two assignments of error made by defendant’s counsel in this case is that the instructions given by the court as to the proper application of payments were not sufficiently explicit, in that they “did not give the jury to understand” certain things. We do not agree with counsel upon this point. The instructions were clear, concise, and sufficient. Possibly they were not as full and explicit as counsel desired, but he should have so stated at the time. The law was given in a manner easily to be understood, and we have no doubt was fully comprehended by the jury.

¶2It is well settled in our state that the omission of material instructions, or indefiniteness or insufficiency or even obscurity, in the charge of the court, is no ground for error or for a new trial, when the attention of the court was not at the time specifically *243called to the defect, and further and more definite instructions asked for. This rule has not been affected by the passage of Laws 1901, c. 113. Should we hold otherwise, and that chapter 113 covers an instruction which is strictly accurate, although not quite as complete as the facts in the particular case might warrant, we should be placing counsel who fails to except under such circumstances in a better position than one who has excepted at the time of the charge. This because an exception at the time, which failed to call special attention to the alleged omission or indefiniteness or obscurity, would not avail under the general rule before stated.

¶32. We have examined the record carefully, and our conclusion is that the verdict was abundantly supported by the evidence, and1 was in the proper form.

¶4Order affirmed.

¶5 Reported in 91 N. W. 893.

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