Many non-attorneys ask whether it is possible to appeal a jury decision for the defendant. The answer is: “it depends.” All decisions by a jury about fact issues are final ones, as long as the trial was properly conducted and the appropriate law was given to the jury. The jury is the “fact-finder,” and its decisions cannot be appealed no matter how wrong you think they were. If the jury finds that the defendant was not negligent, or that its negligence did not cause the claimed injury, an appellate court cannot reverse the jury’s findings.
However, an appeal can be taken from actions of the trial judge may have unfairly shaped the jury’s decision. In that instance, the appeal is from the legal decisions made by the court, not from the fact decisions made by the jury. An example of a potential appeal would be erroneous rulings by the trial judge about what evidence was admissible. If the appellate court finds that the judge wrongly let in, or kept out, evidence presented by either side, it can then decide whether this error was substantial enough to have led to a jury’s decision about the facts regarding liability, causation, or damages.
Often, during a trial, either side will want a clear record of the judge’s decisions and the basis of them so that an appellate court can weigh whether a substantial mistake was made. Some attorneys will not make objections to evidence submitted by the other side, or not submit evidence that the other side objects to, because they worry that it might create an appealable issue. This is an area where the trial attorney has to weigh the risks and benefits of the position she or he takes on these matters.
Another key example of an appealable decision relates to the judge giving the wrong law though the jury instructions at the end of a case. Jury instructions are exactly that: instructions to the jury about what law applies to their deliberations and ultimate fact decisions. In Washington, as in most states, there are a set of published “pattern instructions” that are the product of a committee comprised of representatives of both plaintiffs and defendants, as well as judges. The committee meets regularly and will devise new pattern instructions on occasion to deal with changes in either legislation or in case law enunciated by the Washington Supreme Court.
Most pattern instructions, if given by the judge, will not result in reversible error. But in some cases the instructions don’t truly cover all of the legal issues in a given case, and either side can submit proposed instructions that are variations from the pattern instructions. Exactly how they are worded may be a basis for an appeal by the side that contends the instruction misstates the applicable law. Some attorneys are reluctant to propose anything that varies from the pattern instructions because of worries it might be the basis for an appeal by the other side if you win your case.
