1. Assume that during most of the year, there was a solid strip of land around the property in question that was never under water or saturated. Would the outcome of this case have been the same? Why or why not?

2. According to the judge, what three characteristics of jury instructions does a federal appellate court examine to determine whether a district court has abused its discretion in omitting a requested jury instruction? Which of these three characteristics was at issue in this case?

Robert J. Lucas owned Big Hill Acres, Inc. (BHA, Inc.) and Consolidated Investments, Inc. Through these companies, he acquired Big Hill Acres (BHA), a large parcel of land in Jackson County, Mississippi, approximately eight miles from the Gulf of Mexico. He subdivided the property and sold mobile home lots under long-term installment plans. The property was not connected to a central municipal waste system, and County law required Lucas to certify and install individual septic systems on each lot before they could establish electric hook-ups or sell the lots. In Jackson County, septic systems must be approved by an engineer with the Mississippi Department of Health (MDH) or by an independent licensed engineer. Lucas initially hired an MDH engineer to approve septic systems, but MDH withdrew many of its initial approvals when it found that the lots were on saturated soils. Lucas then hired a private licensed engineer, M. E. Thompson, Jr., to approve and certify the septic systems. Robbie Lucas Wrigley, Lucas’s daughter, advertised the lots, showed them to prospective buyers, and leased them.