No impairment, no charge error

September 7, 2021

“When reviewing for abuse of discretion, we will reverse a district court’s refusal to give a requested jury instruction ‘only if the instruction (1) was a substantially correct statement of law, (2) was not substantially covered in the charge as a whole, and (3) concerned an important point in the trial such that the failure to instruct the jury on the issue seriously impaired the [party’s] ability to present a given [claim].'” (citations omitted). In HTC Corp. v. Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, while the panel divided 2-1 about whether a requested instruction was accurate, all three judges agreed that the appellant was not “seriously impaired” at trial by its absence. No. 19-40566 (Aug. 31, 2021).

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