Kadrmas, Lee & Jackson, Inc. v. Morris

KONENKAMP, Justice.

[¶ 1.] In this breach of contract action, plaintiff alleged that defendant failed to pay on two written contracts, but defendant claimed that he paid a $10,000 retainer on those contracts. Plaintiff responded that the $10,000 payment was on an oral contract that had been completed. The circuit court instructed the jury that if it found that the oral contract existed, “the $10,000 must be applied to the claim for work performed under that contract.” Because the court told the jury that it must apply the payment only to the purported oral contract, it took from the jury the…