H.e. Butt Grocery Company, Petitioner v. Vinnie Bilotto, Respondent

Summary

The Texas Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeals, holding that the trial court did not err in giving a jury instruction that conditioned the damages question on a finding that the plaintiff was fifty percent or less negligent. The Court reasoned that the 1987 amendment to Rule 277 expressly permits such conditional instructions and that the instruction merely incidentally informed the jury of the legal effect of its answers. Separate dissenting opinions argued that the instruction improperly advised the jury of the effect of its comparative negligence findings.