Estate of Henkelman v. Bean
The Estate of Jacob Henkelman, Jeff Henkelman, Individually and as Co-Administrator for the Estate of Jacob Henkelman and Stacy Henkelman, Individually and as Co-Administrator of the Estate of Jacob Henkelman, Plaintiffs-Appellants
Darby Thomas Bean, Defendant-Appellee
Attorneys for Appellants
Matthew M. Boles
Adam C. Witosky
Attorney for Appellee
Jason D. Walke
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Warren County, Brad McCall, Judge. AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED. Heard by Ahlers, P.J., and Badding and Chicchelly, JJ. Opinion by Badding, J. Partial dissent by Ahlers, P.J. (24 pages)
Plaintiffs appeal from an adverse jury verdict in a negligence action. OPINION HOLDS: We find the district court erred in instructing the jury on both comparative fault and assumption of risk to the prejudice of the estate. We accordingly reverse and remand for a new trial. PARTIAL DISSENT ASSERTS: I dissent in part because, following my review of the jury instructions, I do not believe the district court instructed the jury on both comparative fault and assumption of risk as separate defenses. Instead, I believe assumption of risk was presented as a way in which the decedent was at fault within the concept of comparative fault. Accordingly, I believe the jury was properly instructed and would affirm.
