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Rule 51.04 – Assigning Error; Plain Error

May 13, 2021 | Civil Procedure, Minnesota

(a) Assigned Error. A party may assign as error:

(1) an error in an instruction actually given if that party made a proper objection under Rule 51.03, or
(2) a failure to give an instruction if that party made a proper request under Rule 51.01, and-unless the court made a definitive ruling on the record rejecting the request-also made a proper objection under Rule 51.03.
(b) Plain Error. A court may consider a plain error in the instructions affecting substantial rights that has not been preserved as required by Rule 51.04(a)(1) or (2).

Minn. R. Civ. P. 51.04

Amended effective January 1, 2006.
Advisory Committee Comment – 1998 Amendments
The Committee does not believe a mandatory rule requiring use of written instructions in all cases is appropriate, but notes the widespread use of written instructions and the near-unanimous support for written instructions among judges, lawyers, and commentators. See, e.g., American Bar Association, Section of Litigation, Civil Trial Practice Standards, section 5(f), at 16 (1998) (“Final instructions should be provided for the jurors’ use during deliberation.”). If written instructions are given, the Committee believes that the court should have the discretion to decide that more than one complete copy of the instructions be taken to the jury room when the jury retires to deliberate.
Advisory Committee Comment-2006 Amendment
Rule 51 is entirely new with this amendment. The new rule is modeled on its federal counterpart, Fed. R. Civ. P. 51, as it was amended in 2003. The changes are intended primarily to provide detailed procedural guidance where the existing rule is either silent or vague. See generally Fed. R. Civ. P. 51, Advis. Comm. Notes-2003 Amend., reprinted in Fed. Civ. Jud. Proc. & Rules 227 (West 2005 ed.).
Rule 51.02(c) continues to recognize that the court may give instructions to the jury at any time after trial begins, including preliminary instructions before opening statements or the taking of evidence, during the trial, and at the end of trial either before or after the arguments of counsel.