What is the test for harmless error in the formulation of jury instructions in a civil trial?

MultiRegion, United States of America

The following excerpt is from Wilkerson v. Wheeler, 772 F.3d 834 (9th Cir. 2014):

We review a district court's formulation of civil jury instructions for an abuse of discretion, but we consider de novo whether the challenged instruction correctly states the law. Jury instructions must be supported by the evidence, fairly and adequately cover the issues presented, correctly state the law, and not be misleading. Peralta v. Dillard, 744 F.3d 1076, 1082 (9th Cir.2014) (en banc). But if any error relating to the jury instructions was harmless, we do not reverse. In evaluating jury instructions, prejudicial error results when, looking to the instructions as a whole, the substance of the applicable law was not fairly and correctly covered. Harmless error review for a civil jury trial ... shifts [the burden] to the defendant to demonstrate that it is more probable than not that the jury would have reached the same verdict had it been properly instructed. Gantt v. City of L.A., 717 F.3d 702, 707 (9th Cir.2013) (internal quotation marks, citations, and alterations omitted).

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