General Motors Corporation v. Muncy

• Decision Date: 06 October 1966
• Docket Number: No. 21967.,21967.
• Citation: 367 F.2d 493
• Parties: GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION, Appellant, v. Barbara June MUNCY and Charles Muncy, Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

367 F.2d 493 (1966)

GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION, Appellant, v. Barbara June MUNCY and Charles Muncy, Appellees.

No. 21967.

United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit.

October 6, 1966.

Leon Jaworski, Sam H. Hood, Jr., Blake Tartt, Houston, Tex., R. O. Kenley, Jr., Longview, Tex., Ira Butler, Ft. Worth, Tex., Thomas W. Watkins, Detroit, Mich., Fulbright, Crooker, Freeman, Bates & Jaworski, Houston, Tex., for appellant.

Franklin Jones, Marshall, Tex., Wm. Hurwitz, Longview, Tex., Ralph Nader, Winsted, Conn., Jones, Jones & Baldwin, Marshall, Tex., for appellees.

Before TUTTLE, Chief Judge, and JONES and WATERMAN,^* Circuit Judges.

JONES, Circuit Judge:

C. L. Lane and Alice Lane, his wife, on August 27, 1960, purchased a new Chevrolet automobile, manufactured by the appellant, General Motors Corporation, from the Smith Chevrolet Company of Henderson, Texas. On September 15, 1960, after the car had been driven five or six hundred miles at moderate speeds, Mrs. Lane drove the car to Duncan's Five and Ten Cent Store on the Main Street of Kilgore, Texas and diagonally parked against a curb about eight inches in height. On the front seat with Mrs. Lane was her mother, Nellie Hudnall. On the rear seat was a five-year old son of the Lanes. Mrs. Lane left the car and got her son from the rear seat. She had parked close to a truck on the right and suggested to her mother that she slide under the wheel and get out on the driver's side.

The ignition switch was of a design which had been used on Chevrolets since 1948 and was in use on General Motors' Buick cars. It had four positions: "Lock," "off," "on" and "start." The key could be removed from the "on" position with the motor running. If so removed, the switch could be turned on and off without the use of the key. The key could be removed from the "lock" position and the ignition would be cut off.

In leaving the car Mrs. Lane had removed the key and left the ignition switch in the "on" position, with the car in drive gear, with the motor running and, apparently, without setting the brakes. As Mrs. Hudnall was leaving the car on the driver's side, the engine suddenly accelerated, the wheels spun, and the car jumped the curb and on to the sidewalk. The appellee, Barbara June Muncy, was on the sidewalk. The Lane car, with the motor racing, struck Mrs. Muncy and pushed her through a glass store window. Someone reached through the car window and cut off the ignition. Mrs. Muncy, joined by her husband, brought suit in the District Court of Dallas County, Texas, to recover for the severe injuries she had sustained, naming as defendants C. L. Lane, his wife Alice Lane, her mother Nellie Hudnall, Davis Smith, doing business as Smith Chevrolet Company, and General Motors Corporation. Each of the defendants, except General Motors, resided in Rusk County, Texas, and they filed pleas of privilege seeking to transfer the venue to Rusk County. The court sustained the pleas and in so doing held that no bona fide cause of action had been established against General Motors. The decision of the District Court of Dallas County was affirmed by the Texas Court of Civil Appeals. Muncy v. General Motors Corporation, 357 S.W.2d 430. An application was made by the Muncys to the Supreme Court of Texas for a writ of error but, before a ruling was made they dismissed their application and took a voluntary non-suit in the state district court. The Muncys then filed suit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas against the same defendants as had been sued in the state court. One trial resulted in a mistrial. On a second trial the Muncys recovered a judgment for $225,000 against the Lanes, Mrs. Hudnall and General Motors. Only General Motors has appealed.

Mr. and Mrs. Muncy sought recovery against the appellant, General Motors Corporation, upon two theories. The first theory is that General Motors negligently designed the ignition switch used on the Lane automobile in a manner permitting the ignition switch key to be withdrawn with the motor running and that such negligent action was a proximate cause of the injuries sustained by Mrs. Muncy. The other theory is that General Motors negligently designed and assembled the Lane automobile in such manner that the accelerator would hang or stick when the motor was running and the car was in gear so as to cause the wheels of the car to revolve rapidly although no direct pressure was being applied to the accelerator by any human agency, and that such negligent action was a proximate cause of Mrs. Muncy's injuries.

The first of these contentions was considered and fully discussed by the Court of Civil Appeals of Texas in its opinion. Although the decision of the Texas court is not in any sense res judicata, it is the considered conclusion of this Court that the Texas court has clearly and correctly set forth the principles which control the issue presented by the claim of a defective design of the ignition switch. It follows that under the law of Texas the appellees cannot recover from General Motors upon their first theory. The Federal courts are bound by the law of Texas on this question. Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64, 58 S.Ct. 817, 82 L.Ed. 1188, 114 A. L.R. 1487. Two recent decisions¹ of other courts of appeals are in accord with the position to which we adhere.

In the district court and before this Court, the primary thrust of the Muncys' contention against General Motors is predicated upon their claim of a defective design of the ignition switch. It was also asserted before the district court, and it is here asserted that General Motors negligently designed and assembled the accelerator system of the Lane automobile and that its negligent action was a proximate cause of Mrs. Muncy's injuries.

There was evidence that an accelerator mechanism could be manufactured defectively and in such a manner that it would stick, and that a car with such a defective accelerator might have been delivered to a consumer purchaser. There was no positive evidence that the accelerator on the Lane car was defective. It gave no trouble before the accident. It gave no trouble after the accident. If any inspection was made of the accelerator equipment after the accident, it is not shown by the record before this Court.² There was evidence that sometime before the accident the engine of the Lane Chevrolet had idled high and that this was corrected by a carburetor adjustment. There was evidence that some brake repair or adjustment was made. There was no evidence that the carburetor or brake had anything to do with the accident in which Mrs. Muncy was injured or that would permit the jury to draw such an inference.

Mrs. Lane did not see her mother during the time the motor speeded and the car moved. Mrs. Hudnall was shocked. She could not remember how she moved from the right side of the car toward the left side of the car. She could not remember how far she had moved before the motor began racing. She could not remember what position she was in or what movement she had made. She said she did not know whether she got out on the driver's side or the passenger's side. She knew nothing about how the motor was stopped. She did not know whether her foot struck the accelerator or not. She did not have any idea as to why the car jumped forward and didn't know whether the motor was running or not. She didn't think she froze on the accelerator pedal. She was asked if she remembered that she didn't have any conscious knowledge of getting on a pedal and holding it down, and in reply she said that if she did she didn't know it. In response to a general question as to her activities from the time her daughter got out of the car until it lurched forward, Mrs. Hudnall stated that she didn't recall anything she did at the time and she did not know where her feet were. Later, and after testifying that she didn't know the accelerator from the brakes, Mrs. Hudnall was asked, "Then you know you didn't...