Hines v. Remington Arms Co., Inc.
| Decision Date | 03 November 1993 |
| Docket Number | No. 92-941,92-941 |
| Citation | 630 So.2d 809 |
| Parties | Earl H. HINES, Jr. and Beverly Helms Hines, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. REMINGTON ARMS COMPANY, INC., and Sinclair, Inc., Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US |
Louis D. Bufkin, Lake Charles, Jennifer J. Bercier, J.B. Jones Jr., Cameron, for Earl H. Hines Jr. etc.
John B. Scofield, Patrick Donavon Gallaugher Jr., Lake Charles, for Hodgon Powder Co.; Admiral Ins.
John Stanton Bradford, Jeanne Marie Sievert, Lake Charles, for State Farm.
Before LABORDE, THIBODEAUX, SAUNDERS and WOODARD, JJ., and CULPEPPER *, J. Pro Tem.
This is a products liability case. Plaintiffs, Earl Hines, Jr. and his wife, Beverly, appeal a jury verdict in favor of defendants, Sinclair, Inc., Hodgdon Powder Company and Admiral Insurance Company. Mr. Hines was injured when his rifle accidentally fired into a gunpowder canister. The jury determined that Mr. Hines's bench rest target rifle, manufactured by Sinclair, and the gunpowder, manufactured by Hodgdon, were not defective, and relieved defendants of any responsibility. For the following reasons, we reverse the jury verdict and the trial court's decision to exclude evidence on failure to warn. We render judgment for Earl and Beverly Hines against all defendants and award damages and attorney's fees.
We shall consider the following issues raised by the plaintiffs' appeal:
1) Whether the jury was manifestly erroneous in finding the Sinclair rifle was not defective.
2) Whether the trial judge erred in refusing to charge the jury on the alleged negligence of Sinclair and Hodgdon.
3) Whether evidence that Hodgdon failed to warn, or inadequately warned, users of the dangerous characteristics of its product was erroneously excluded by the trial judge.
4) Whether the jury was manifestly erroneous in failing to find that the Hodgdon powder was unreasonably dangerous in design.
5) Whether the trial judge erred in not excluding evidence of plaintiff fault.
Hodgdon and Admiral also appeal and raise these issues:
1) Whether their third party demand against Sinclair should be recognized.
2) Whether the action against them has prescribed.
On February 29, 1984, while Earl Hines was seated at his loading bench, his new Sinclair accurized bench rest target rifle rested on the bench top and pointed at the wall against which the bench was pushed. Along the back of the bench were several canisters of gunpowder. The barrel of the rifle was six to eight inches from a cardboard canister of H4895 Hodgdon powder.
Mr. Hines was testing the fit of a cartridge in the rifle's chamber. He inserted a live cartridge into the breech, shifted the bolt forward into the chamber, closed the bolt, and the rifle fired. The gunpowder was somehow ignited and the room erupted into flames. He managed to escape by crawling over the room's only door, which had been blown off its frame.
The incident left him badly burned and his necessary stay in the hospital led to further complications, all of which resulted in permanent injury. He suffered severe property damage as well. As a result, the Hineses brought suit against Sinclair, Inc. and later amended their suit to add Hodgdon Powder Company, Inc. and Admiral Insurance Company, Hodgdon's insurer. Remington Arms Company, Inc. was also a named defendant but was dismissed on summary judgment. See, Hines v. Remington Arms Company, Inc., 522 So.2d 152 (La.App. 3d Cir.), writ denied, 524 So.2d 522 (La.1988). Sinclair did not answer the petition or appear at trial to defend against the claim. After the jury verdict in defendants' favor, this appeal followed.
The Hineses contend the jury was clearly wrong in finding the Sinclair rifle not defective. Specifically, they argue that the rifle's trigger mechanism has a propensity to "follow down fire," which makes it unreasonably dangerous, that the evidence more than proved this defect and that the jury ignored the clear, objective proof.
It is well established law that questions of fact are the province of the jury. Its factual conclusions are entitled to great deference. However, if an appellate court finds objective evidence to the contrary, after a complete review of the record, jury conclusions may be overturned. Stobart v. State Through DOTD, 617 So.2d 880 (La.1993); Rosell v. ESCO, 549 So.2d 840 (La.1989). Therefore, it is incumbent upon this court to review the entire record before us to determine if the jury was clearly wrong in finding no defect.
The rifle involved in the accident is a duplicate of one Mr. Hines purchased from Sinclair three years prior to the accident. After firing approximately two thousand rounds from the first, he decided to buy the second. Both were purchased exclusively for competition target shooting.
The Sinclair rifle is an amalgam of parts from various other manufacturers that are assembled and modified by Fred Sinclair, the company's owner, for maximum accuracy in bench rest shooting. Significant modifications are the lack of a trigger safety and the extremely sensitive trigger pull. The purpose of the sensitive trigger pull is to reduce the tension required to fire the rifle, which in turn reduces the movement of the gun when the trigger is pulled and increases the precision of the shot. Whereas a hunting rifle, for example, could have a trigger pull from four to six pounds, the Sinclair rifle used by Mr. Hines had a pull of only two ounces.
The trigger used on the rifle was known as a "Burns" trigger. Apparently, it was very popular. Sinclair testified that:
The trigger's sensitivity is the subject of the defect claim. The Hineses contend that the Sinclair rifle trigger mechanism was unreasonably dangerous--therefore defective--because it "follow down fired." "Follow down firing" occurs when a cartridge is discharged merely by shifting it into the chamber and without the trigger being pulled. The defect was initially argued as one in either construction or design, which it may or may not be. Nevertheless, it is unnecessary to discuss those possibilities as we hold that the Sinclair rifle is unreasonably dangerous per se.
This incident took place before the enactment of the Louisiana Products Liability Act. Accordingly, we look to products liability law prior to the act, starting with Halphen v. Johns-Manville Sales Corp., 484 So.2d 110 (La.1986).
In Halphen, the court examined the theories of recovery in products liability claims and set forth elements that must be proven under each theory. Foremost was the court's recognition of a theory based on products classified as "unreasonably dangerous per se." The court defined "unreasonably dangerous per se" as such:
"A product is unreasonably dangerous per se if a reasonable person would conclude that the danger-in-fact of the product whether foreseeable or not, outweighs the utility of the product." (Footnote omitted). Id. at 114.
The court stated that the purpose of the theory is to evaluate the product, utilizing the danger-utility test, without regard to the manufacturer's knowledge or perceptions of the possible dangers of the product.
The danger-utility test, or risk-utility test as it is otherwise known, requires a "weighing of the danger-in-fact of a product to society as a whole against the utility of the product to society as a whole." Sharkey v. Sterling Drug, Inc., 600 So.2d 701, 707 (La.App. 1st Cir.), writ denied, 605 So.2d 1099, 1100 (La.1992). The test is not limited to a particular subclass of consumer or user. Sharkey, supra; see also, Brown v. Sears, Roebuck and Company, 516 So.2d 1154 (La.1988). As applied to the present case, we must look beyond those persons generally involved in the sport of target shooting and weigh the benefits and negatives of the Sinclair rifle as it affects society as a whole.
Under the danger-utility test, the danger posed by the Sinclair rifle is quite obvious. Both sides agree that, because of the sensitive trigger pulls, some target rifles are subject to accidental discharges, either by "follow down firing" or by simply jarring or jostling them. Defense experts testified that these hazards are commonly known among those who compete in bench rest competitions. In fact, concern for safety at competitions is so great that stringent rules require the rifle bolts be removed until it is time to actually fire at the target. Failure to comply results in instant disqualification. Such caution by experienced rifle users underscores the inherent danger in bench rest rifles.
There is no need to belabor the point that all firearms can be dangerous and have the potential to cause great harm. However, that potential does not make all firearms unreasonably dangerous per se. Nevertheless, a rifle with a firing mechanism so sensitive that it has a propensity to fire accidentally, coupled with the lack of a safety mechanism, makes that rifle highly dangerous to society as a whole.
As far as its utility in society, we are not convinced it outweighs the danger. The evidence established that target rifles are used only for competition. They are not used for hunting, so they do not provide food. They are not used for protection, so they do not provide security. While we recognize the value of rifles with sensitive triggers to the competitive shooter, that value does not extend to society in general. The danger that an accidental discharge might injure or kill someone is far superior to any benefit society might derive from a sensitive trigger pull. Consequently, we hold that the Sinclair rifle is unreasonably...
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