As a corollary to this proposition, courts will construe a general verdict in light of the instructions given to the jury. Elliot v. Ferguson, 158 Conn. 553, 555, 264 A.2d 556, 557 (1969); Gough v. Gough, 238 Ga. 695, 696-97, 235 S.E.2d 9, 10 (1977); Murphy v. General Motors Corp., 55 A.D.2d 486, 489, 391 N.Y.S.2d 24, 26 (1977); Fjerstad v. Sioux Valley Hospital, 291 N.W.2d 786, 788 (S.D. 1980). Here, the court failed to instruct the jury on the law of conversion.
The verdict, as rendered on the plaintiffs' verdict form, alone, disposes of the issues as to each plaintiff. Compare Clark v. Shaw, 143 Conn. 114, 117, 119 A.2d 912 (1956) (verdict forms disposed of issues as related to only one of two defendants). To support their argument that the failure to complete the defendant's verdict form resulted in an unintelligible verdict, the plaintiffs cite Elliot v. Ferguson, 158 Conn. 553, 264 A.2d 556 (1969). In Elliot, the plaintiff brought two causes of action sounding in negligence against a defendant child and the child's parents.