Jackson & Perkins Wholesale, Inc. v. Smith Rose Nursery, Inc.

MEMORANDUM **

Plaintiff Jackson & Perkins Wholesale, Inc. contracted to provide roses to Defendant Smith Rose Nursery, Inc., whose Defendant shareholders personally guaranteed the nursery’s indebtedness to Plaintiff. Plaintiff sold 153,000 rose plants to Defendants. Some of the plants were defective. Defendants refused to pay, thereby breaching the parties’ contract. A jury found in Plaintiffs favor but did not fill in a damages amount on the special verdict form because of the district court’s instructions that it would calculate the damages once the jury determined the percentage of viable plants. Defendants moved for a mistrial and a new trial, both of which the district court denied, and now bring this timely appeal, challenging this procedure. We affirm.

1. We review for abuse of discretion the district court’s denial of a motion for new trial and mistrial. Dorn v. Burlington N. Santa Fe R.R. Co., 397 F.3d 1183, 1189 (9th Cir.2005); United States v. *483 Steele, 298 F.3d 906, 910 (9th Cir.2002). We find no abuse of discretion here.

The district court required the jury to clarify its original answer, “88%,” by asking 88% of what. Specifically, the court asked the jury to…