Marsha Whitlow v. Ron McConnaha, Jodi McConnaha, and Timothy Newton, 935 N.W.2d 565

On June 27, 2015, Whitlow was a passenger on a motorcycle operated by Timothy Newton that collided with a tractor driven by Ron McConnaha; Whitlow suffered severe injuries and sued both drivers (McConnahas treated as one party).
Whitlow alleged separate negligence specifications against McConnaha (tractor) and Newton (motorcycle); McConnaha filed a third-party claim against Newton.
At trial, the court submitted an erroneous verdict form that, after the jury answered “No” to whether McConnaha was at fault, instructed the jury to stop and sign the form—so the jury did not answer questions about Newton’s fault or damages.
The jury unanimously found McConnaha not at fault; the jury was discharged. Whitlow moved for mistrial or a new trial; the district court denied a mistrial but granted a new trial only as to Newton, preserving the verdict in favor of McConnaha.
The court of appeals reversed, ordering a full retrial as to both defendants; the Iowa Supreme Court granted further review and vacated the court of appeals, affirming the district court’s limitation of retrial to Newton alone.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether a retrial must include a defendant previously exonerated when a verdict-form error prevented the jury from deciding another defendant’s fault	Whitlow: retrial must include both drivers so the jury can compare fault	McConnaha: retrial should exclude him because the jury unambiguously exonerated him and that finding is untainted	Retrial limited to Newton; McConnaha excused because the no-fault finding was untainted by the verdict-form error
Whether Whitlow preserved error despite no contemporaneous objection to the verdict form	Whitlow: preserved by proposing correct form and timely posttrial motion	McConnaha: (argued implicit waiver)	Error preserved; posttrial motion and prior proposed correct form suffice
Whether liability issues were so intertwined that both defendants must be retried	Whitlow: fault is interconnected; comparative fault requires both on verdict form	McConnaha: specifications were separate; jury instructions treated faults separately	Court: separate specifications and instruction support limiting retrial to Newton; liability not so intertwined

Mumm v. Jennie Edmundson Mem’l Hosp., 924 N.W.2d 512 (Iowa 2019) (holding a unanimous no-liability verdict for a defendant is not prejudiced by an instruction error affecting allocation issues)
Jack v. Booth, 858 N.W.2d 711 (Iowa 2015) (upholding excusal of an exonerated defendant from retrial when only the other defendant’s circumstances necessitated retrial)
Bryant v. Parr, 872 N.W.2d 366 (Iowa 2015) (discussing general rule that new trials normally retrial all issues but permitting narrowed retrials when liability findings are untainted)
Kinseth v. Weil-McLain, 913 N.W.2d 55 (Iowa 2018) (standard of review for denial of mistrial: abuse of discretion)
McIntosh v. Lawrance, 469 P.2d 628 (Or. 1970) (en banc) (holding an exonerated defendant need not be retried when errors related solely to the other defendant)