Buisker v. Thuringer

KONENKAMP, Justice.

[¶ 1.] In this wrongful death action, we conclude that the trial court erred in refusing to instruct the jury on the gratuitous employee doctrine and erred in refusing to grant a new trial when extraneous information was conveyed to the jury by the bailiffs spouse. We reverse and remand for a new trial.

A

Background

[¶2.] Margaret Thuringer owned an old house trailer that had been sitting unused on her property. Margaret’s daughter, Delaine Aldentaler, had recently leased a lot on Buffalo Lake and agreed, at her mother’s insistence, that the trailer should be moved onto the…