Rule 1.933.Special verdicts

Instead of a single general verdict, Rule 1.933 lets the court require the jury to answer a series of special written findings covering each disputed issue of fact. The court can frame this as categorical or brief-answer questions, as forms of specific findings the jury might properly make given the issues and evidence, or through some other appropriate method — and it must instruct the jury clearly enough to let it find on every issue submitted.

The rule anticipates gaps. If the special verdict submission leaves out an issue of fact, a party that does not demand submission of that issue before the jury retires waives a jury trial on it, and the court may decide that issue itself. If the court does not decide it, the omitted issue is deemed found in accordance with the judgment on the rest of the special verdict. Once the special findings come back, the court directs whatever judgment is appropriate to them.

Rule 1.933 closes with a cross-reference: special interrogatories submitted under Iowa Code chapter 668 are treated as special verdicts for purposes of this chapter's rules, so the procedures here — including the waiver rule for omitted issues and the court's authority to enter judgment on the findings — apply to those interrogatories as well.