CACI VF-301 Breach of Contract—Affirmative Defense—Unilateral Mistake of Fact

California Civil Jury Instructions CACI

VF-301 Breach of Contract—Affirmative Defense—Unilateral Mistake of Fact


We answer the questions submitted to us as follows:

1.Was [name of defendant] mistaken about [insert description of mistake]?

 Yes   No

If your answer to question 1 is yes, then answer question 2. If you answered no, stop here, answer no further questions, and have the presiding juror sign and date this form.

2.Did [name of plaintiff] know that [name of defendant] was mistaken and use that mistake to take advantage of [him/her/nonbinary pronoun/it]?

 Yes   No

If your answer to question 2 is yes, then answer question 3. If you answered no, stop here, answer no further questions, and have the presiding juror sign and date this form.

3.Was [name of defendant]’s mistake caused by [his/her/nonbinary pronoun/its] excessive carelessness?

 Yes   No

If your answer to question 3 is no, then answer question 4. If you answered yes, stop here, answer no further questions, and have the presiding juror sign and date this form.

4.Would [name of defendant] have agreed to enter into the contract if [he/she/nonbinary pronoun/it] had known about the mistake?

 Yes   No

Signed:Presiding Juror
Dated: 

After [this verdict form has/all verdict forms have] been signed, notify the [clerk/bailiff/court attendant] that you are ready to present your verdict in the courtroom.


Directions for Use

The special verdict forms in this section are intended only as models. They may need to be modified depending on the facts of the case. This form is not a stand-alone verdict form. It may be incorporated into VF-300, Breach of Contract, if the elements of the affirmative defense are at issue.

This verdict form is based on CACI No. 330, Affirmative Defense—Unilateral Mistake of Fact. The verdict forms do not address all available affirmative defenses. The parties may need to create their own verdict forms to fit the issues involved in the case.

If there are multiple causes of action, users may wish to combine the individual forms into one form. If different damages are recoverable on different causes of action, replace the damages tables in all of the verdict forms with CACI No. VF-3920, Damages on Multiple Legal Theories.