Johnson v. Safeway Stores

The primary issue in this appeal is whether the trial court erred by reason of its refusal to give an instruction informing the jury concerning the effect of the percentage findings in its verdict under our comparative negligence statute. The accident occurred prior to the effective date of the recent legislative enactment of § 1-7.7, W.S. 1957, 1976 Interim Supp., permitting such advice to the jury, but the trial was held thereafter. In its special verdict, the - Page 910 jury found the plaintiff seventy percent negligent and the defendants thirty percent negligent, and awarded the plaintiff damages in the sum of $18,000. The trial court then entered judgment in favor of the defendants as required by the comparative-negligence statute.