John J. Connors, Jr. v. William J. Schmidt

By its answer to the court’s first interrogatory, the jury revealed that its verdict for the defendant was based on a finding of contributory negligence. I would reverse the judgment and order a new trial because I think (1) the court’s charge was inadequate to instruct the jury that the burden of proof on the issue of contributory negligence was upon the defendant, and (2) the device of interrogatories employed by the court after the verdict compounded, rather than cured, the error.

The judge, after explaining to the jury what “negligence” means, charged:

The burden, therefore, is upon the…