CHARLOTTE BLY-MAGEE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. BUDGET RENT-A-CAR CORPORATION, Defendant and Appellant., 24 Cal. App. 4th 318

Summary

Respondent customer filed suit against appellant corporation, alleging that appellant negligently failed to register a vehicle which appellant rented to respondent. The trial court bifurcated the trial. In the first phase, the jury returned a verdict finding that appellant was responsible for ensuring that the vehicle it rented to appellant was properly registered. Prior to the start of the second phase, the court refused to allow appellant to resume voir dire. In the second phase, the court rejected appellant's proposed special verdict form and provided the jury with its own form. The jury returned a verdict against appellant. The court affirmed the trial court's judgment. It found that appellant's delay in raising its concerns about the trial court's limitation of the conduct and scope of voir dire constituted a waiver of its right to complain about it. The court also concluded that the verdict form used by the trial court was not confusing or ambiguous and could not have reasonably ...