N.M. R. Civ. P. Magist. Ct. 2-605

As amended through August 23, 2024

Rule 2-605 - Instructions to juries

A.Procedural instructions. After the parties have completed their presentation of the evidence, and before arguments to the jury, the magistrate shall orally instruct the jury on the procedure to be followed by them in deciding the case. Such instructions shall be given in substantially the following form:

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury:

The case will now be submitted to you for decision. Upon retiring to the jury room and before commencing your deliberations you will select one of your members as foreman. You will then determine the facts in the case from the evidence that has been presented here in open court during the trial. From the facts and the law as you understand it you will decide upon a verdict.

You are the sole judges of all disputed questions of fact. Your verdict should not be based on speculation, guess or conjecture. Neither sympathy nor prejudice should influence your verdict.

You should first decide whether or not the defendant is liable to the plaintiff at all (and whether or not the plaintiff is liable to the defendant on the defendant's counterclaim/setoff). If you find the defendant liable to the plaintiff (or the plaintiff liable to the defendant), you should then determine the amount of damages that should be awarded.

When five or more of you have agreed upon a verdict, you will return to open court and your foreman will then announce the verdict."

B.UJI instructions. If requested by a party or, if the court deems it appropriate, on the court's own motion, the court may give the jury any other applicable instructions contained in the New Mexico Uniform Jury Instructions (UJI) Civil. Whenever the court determines the jury should be instructed on a subject and no applicable instruction on the subject is found in UJI Civil, the instruction given on that subject shall be brief, impartial and free from hypothesized facts.

N.M. R. Civ. P. Magist. Ct. 2-605

As amended, effective 1/1/1994.

ANNOTATIONS The 1994 amendment, effective January 1, 1994, in the first sentence of Paragraph B, made stylistic changes throughout and deleted "but no other instructions on the law shall be given" at the end, and added the last sentence of Paragraph B.

For Uniform Jury Instructions - Civil, see UJI 13-101 NMRA et seq. Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. - 75A Am. Jur. 2d Trial § 1077 et seq. Necessity of repeating definition of legal or technical term in different parts of instructions in which it is employed, 7 A.L.R. 135. Use of emphatic words, like "great care," "utmost care" or "highest care," in instructing jury as to duty of carrier to passengers, 32 A.L.R. 1190. Duty to instruct, and effect of failure to instruct jury as to reduction to present worth of damages for future loss on account of death or personal injury, 77 A.L.R. 1439, 154 A.L.R. 796. Statutes in relation to subject matter or form of instructions by court as impairing constitutional right to jury trial, 80 A.L.R. 906. Right of court to instruct or to communicate with jury in civil case in absence of counsel, 84 A.L.R. 220. Instructions regarding measurement of damages for pain and suffering, 85 A.L.R. 1010. Instructions regarding determination of life expectancy in action for personal injuries or death, 87 A.L.R. 910. Instructions defining term "preponderance or weight of evidence", 93 A.L.R. 155. Furnishing or reading instructions to jury in jury room, after retirement, as error, 96 A.L.R. 899. Sufficiency of instruction on contributory negligence as respects the element of proximate cause, 102 A.L.R. 411. Right or duty of court to instruct jury as to presumptions, 103 A.L.R. 126. Necessity of expert testimony to warrant submission to jury of issue as to permanency of injury or as to future pain and suffering, or to sustain award of damages on that basis, 115 A.L.R. 1149. Failure to comply with statute, constitutional provision or court rule providing for giving instructions to jury in writing as prejudicial or reversible error, 115 A.L.R. 1332. "And/or," use of, or comment on use of, in instruction, 118 A.L.R. 1367, 154 A.L.R. 866. Instructions regarding good or bad character of witnesses as affecting their credibility, 120 A.L.R. 1443. Propriety, where actual damages are not shown, of instructions on compensatory damages which do not embody jury's right to award small or nominal damages, 122 A.L.R. 853. Duty of court in civil case to correct, and to give as corrected, a requested instruction which includes a clerical or inadvertent mistake, 125 A.L.R. 685. Propriety of instruction, or requested instruction, in civil case, as to caution in considering testimony of oral admissions, or as to weight of such admissions as evidence, 126 A.L.R. 66. Propriety and effect of instruction or requested instruction which either affirms or denies jury's right to draw unfavorable inference against a party because he invokes privilege against testimony of person offered as witness by the other party or because he fails to call such person as a witness, 131 A.L.R. 693. Propriety of instructions on matters of common knowledge, 144 A.L.R. 932. Comments in judge's charge to jury disparaging expert testimony, 156 A.L.R. 530. Instructions in ejectment on rule that plaintiff must recover on strength of own title, 159 A.L.R. 646. Right of plaintiff in res ipsa loquitur case to an instruction respecting inference by jury, 173 A.L.R. 880. Modern view as to propriety and correctness of instructions referrable to maxim "falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus", 4 A.L.R.2d 1077. Propriety and effect of court's indication to jury that court would suspend sentence, 8 A.L.R.2d 1001. Right of defendant to complain, on appellate review, of instructions favoring codefendant, 60 A.L.R.2d 524. Prejudicial effect of judge's disclosure to jury of motions or proceedings in chambers in civil case, 77 A.L.R.2d 1253. Provision in Rule 51, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and similar state rules and statutes, requiring court to inform counsel, prior to argument to jury, of its proposed action upon requests for instructions, 91 A.L.R.2d 836. Propriety and prejudicial effect of instructions in civil case as affected by the manner in which they are written, 10 A.L.R.3d 501. Sufficiency of evidence, in personal injury action, to prove future pain and suffering and to warrant instructions to jury thereon, 18 A.L.R.3d 10. Sufficiency of evidence, in personal injury action, to prove impairment of earning capacity and to warrant instructions to jury thereon, 18 A.L.R.3d 88. Sufficiency of evidence, in personal injury action, to prove permanence of injuries and to warrant instructions to jury thereon, 18 A.L.R.3d 170. Propriety and effect, in eminent domain proceeding, of instruction to the jury as to landowner's unwillingness to sell property, 20 A.L.R.3d 1081. Verdict-urging instructions in civil case stressing desirability and importance of agreement, 38 A.L.R.3d 1281. Verdict-urging instructions in civil case commenting on weight of majority view or authorizing compromise, 41 A.L.R.3d 845. Verdict-urging instructions in civil case admonishing jurors to refrain from intransigence or reflecting on integrity or intelligence of jurors, 41 A.L.R.3d 1154. Construction of statutes or rules making mandatory the use of pattern or uniform approved jury instructions, 49 A.L.R.3d 128. Necessity and propriety of instructing on alternative theories of negligence or breach of warranty, where instruction on strict liability in tort is given in products liability case, 52 A.L.R.3d 101. Construction and effect of provision in Rule 51, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and similar state rules, that counsel be given opportunity to make objections to instructions out of hearing of jury, 1 A.L.R. Fed. 310. 88 C.J.S. Trial §§ 266 to 426; 89 C.J.S. Trial §§ 427 to 448.