Adams v. Fuqua Industries, Inc.

• Decision Date: 15 July 1987
• Docket Number: Nos. 85-2382,85-2383,s. 85-2382
• Citation: 820 F.2d 271
• Parties: 23 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 406, Prod.Liab.Rep.(CCH)P 11,197 Roberta Rae ADAMS, Appellee, v. FUQUA INDUSTRIES, INC., Appellant. Roberta Rae ADAMS, Appellant, v. FUQUA INDUSTRIES, INC., Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Page 271

820 F.2d 271

23 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 406, Prod.Liab.Rep.(CCH)P 11,197

Roberta Rae ADAMS, Appellee, v. FUQUA INDUSTRIES, INC., Appellant.

Roberta Rae ADAMS, Appellant, v. FUQUA INDUSTRIES, INC., Appellee.

Nos. 85-2382, 85-2383.

United States Court of Appeals,

Eighth Circuit.

Submitted June 13, 1986.

Decided June 4, 1987.

Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc Denied July 15, 1987.

Peter von Gontard, St. Louis, Mo. (Ronald E. Fox, Ian P. Cooper, Shepherd, Sandberg & Phoenix, Frank N. Gundlach, Thomas B. Weaver, Wilbur L. Tomlinson, Armstrong, Teasdale, Kramer & Vaughn, of counsel), for appellant.

Paul C. Hetterman, St. Louis, Mo., for appellee.

Before JOHN R. GIBSON and MAGILL, Circuit Judges, and FAIRCHILD, Senior Circuit Judge. ^*

MAGILL, Circuit Judge.

Fuqua Industries, Inc., ("Fuqua") appeals from the district court's entry of judgment upon a jury verdict of $1,575,000 in favor of Roberta Rae Adams ("Adams") for injuries she sustained while riding a Fuqua lawnmower. Fuqua contends on appeal that the district court erred in excluding Fuqua's rebuttal evidence. We conclude that the district court's exclusion materially prejudiced Fuqua's ability to present a defense, and we reverse and remand for a new trial.

I. BACKGROUND.

In 1971 Adams bought a Snapper 307X rear engine riding lawnmower, ¹ which she used for ten years without incident. In June of 1981, she accidentally ran over a telephone line with the mower, and sent it to a local machinery repair shop for inspection and repairs. Subsequently, Adams found the shift lever to be stiff and difficult to put into gear. While using the mower on July 11, 1981, she was unable to engage reverse. She leaned down to see what was wrong, and her left foot slipped off the clutch/brake pedal, which caused the mower to jerk forward and hit a telephone pole, throwing her off. While she was trying to get clear of the still-running mower, her foot was caught in the blades. As a result of her injuries, her lower right leg had to be amputated.

Adams filed a diversity suit in the District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. Her complaint first sought damages under negligence and strict liability in tort and was later amended to strike the negligence claim. Separate trials were held to determine liability and actual damages, for which the jury awarded Adams $1,750,000, ² and to determine punitive damages, for which the jury found for Fuqua.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW AND APPLICABLE LAW.

Our review of the district court's evidentiary decisions is governed by the standard set out in Warner v. Transamerica Insurance Co., 739 F.2d 1347, 1350 (8th Cir.1984). We may only reverse a trial court's determination of the admissibility of evidence where there has been a clear abuse of discretion. Where the district court excludes evidence of a critical nature, so that there is no reasonable assurance that the jury would have reached the same conclusion had the evidence been admitted, the trial court has abused its discretion. See Robbins v. Whelan, 653 F.2d 47, 52 (1st Cir.1981), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 1123, 102 S.Ct. 972, 71 L.Ed.2d 110 (1981).

In this federal diversity action, Missouri law determines the substantive issues of liability. McGowne v. Challenge-Cook Bros., 672 F.2d 652, 660 (8th Cir.1982). The Supreme Court of Missouri has adopted in full the doctrine of strict liability for defective products set forth in the Restatement (Second) of Torts, Sec. 402A (1965). Polk v. Ford Motor Co., 529 F.2d 259, 265 (8th Cir.1976), cert. denied, 426 U.S. 907, 96 S.Ct. 2229, 48 L.Ed.2d 832 (1976), citing Keener v. Dayton Electric Manufacturing Co., 445 S.W.2d 362, 364 (Mo.1969).

Although Missouri law governs the substantive issues of liability, the Federal Rules of Evidence provide the standards of relevancy of evidence. See Hanna v. Plumer, 380 U.S. 460, 85 S.Ct. 1136, 14 L.Ed.2d 8 (1965); Sturm v. Clark Equipment Co., 547 F.Supp. 144, 145 (W.D.Mo.1982), aff'd mem., 732 F.2d 161 (8th Cir.1984). Where a state and federal evidentiary rule conflict, the proponent is entitled "to the benefit of the more favorable rule." Bailey v. Kawasaki-Kisen, K.K., 455 F.2d 392, 397 (5th Cir.1972), citing Roth v. Swanson, 145 F.2d 262, 269 (8th Cir.1944).

III. DISCUSSION.

A. Exclusion of Fuqua's Rebuttal Evidence.

Fuqua argues on appeal ³ that the district court erred in excluding Fuqua's evidence regarding the feasibility of alternative designs when the mower was made, because Adams had "opened the door" to the feasibility issue. Adams argues that Fuqua's evidence was not rebuttal evidence but went to "state of the art," which is irrelevant to a strict products liability action under Missouri law. Adams also argues that it had not "opened the door" to Fuqua's evidence. As noted, we reverse and remand for a new trial solely because of this issue.

At trial, Adams elicited testimony from her expert witness that the accident had occurred because of the following: (1) the chain arms, which suspend the rear part of the mower deck from the frame of the mower, were defectively designed and had come unmoored, which made the gears bind; (2) the mower did not have a smooth-start clutch, so it would jerk forward when placed into gear, causing Adams to lose her balance when her foot slipped off the clutch pedal; (3) the mower did not have a deadman switch, which turns off the motor if the seat becomes unoccupied, so the mower continued to run after Adams fell to the ground; and (4) the mower had a rearward weight bias, which caused the front wheels to rise off the ground when they struck the telephone pole, and allowed Adams' leg to slide under the blades.

Throughout the trial Fuqua sought to show that neither a smooth-start clutch nor a deadman switch were commercially feasible to put on a lawnmower in 1971. Because of the evidentiary limitations placed upon Fuqua, however, they could not present evidence on this point.

As a preliminary matter we must determine whether Fuqua has preserved this point for appellate review. Adams contends that Fuqua failed to make proper offers of proof and timely objections. In response, Fuqua first points to a motion in limine ⁴ brought by Adams, which was granted, precluding Fuqua from introducing "state of the art" evidence of lawnmower safety devices, including deadman switches, automatic blade stops or smooth-clutch mechanisms. Transcript (Tr.) at (2) 9-12. ⁵ We find that Fuqua clearly objected to the motion. Counsel for Fuqua argued: "I think by precluding the defendant from presenting evidence and cross-examining the witnesses of the plaintiff * * * with the question of the feasibility and possibility of the devices at the time of manufacture, precludes us from putting on a defense." Tr. (2) 11.

Although in this circuit a motion in limine does not preserve error for appellate review, the record reveals that Fuqua continued to object to the exclusion of feasibility evidence throughout the trial. See Tr. (2) 132-33, 192-93; Tr. (3) 120. We thus conclude that Fuqua preserved this issue for review.

We may now examine the merits of Fuqua's argument. Fuqua argues that it was severely prejudiced by its inability to present rebuttal evidence that alternative safety devices were not feasible when the mower was made. Fuqua argues that this prejudice was compounded when Adams suggested in closing argument that Fuqua could have placed these safety devices on the mower in 1971 but for an unexplained reason, did not.

Adams contends that Missouri law governing "state of the art" applies. The Missouri courts first discussed the applicability of "state of the art" to a strict liability case in Cryts v. Ford Motor Co., 571 S.W.2d 683, 689 (Mo.App.1978). In finding Ford liable for a defectively designed auto armrest, the court dismissed Ford's contention that it built the safest armrest possible in 1957 as follows: "Such a contention has no bearing on the outcome of a strict liability claim, where the sole subject of inquiry is the defective condition of the product and not the manufacturer's knowledge, negligence or fault." This rule was most recently followed in Johnson v. Hannibal Mower Corp., 679 S.W.2d 884, 885 (Mo.App.1984), which stated that "[s]tate of the art evidence is irrelevant in strict liability cases * * *. Cryts rejected as having no bearing in a strict liability claim the manufacturer's contention that it had built the safest product possible under the existing technology."

As we interpret the relevant Missouri law, a jury has wide latitude in finding that a product is unreasonably dangerous because it could have been constructed so as to reduce risk of injury. Cryts, 571 S.W.2d at 688; Nesselrode v. Executive Beechcraft, Inc., 707 S.W.2d 371, 378 (Mo. banc 1986). Adams need not prove that the absent devices were or should have been known to Fuqua in 1971 when the mower was manufactured. Elmore v. Owens-Illinois, Inc., 673 S.W.2d 434, 438 (Mo. banc 1984). That the mower was as safe as other mowers manufactured at the same time is irrelevant to the question whether the mower was unreasonably dangerous. Johnson v. Hannibal Mower Corp., 679 S.W.2d 884, 885 (Mo.App.1984). As explained in Cryts, 571 S.W.2d at 688: In a strict liability case, the focus is upon the dangerous condition of a product designed in a particular way. In a negligence case, the concern is with the reasonableness of the manufacturer's actions in designing the article. As such, a product may be dangerous to a degree which the law of strict liability will not tolerate, even though the actions of the designer were entirely reasonable in light of what was known at the time the product was planned and sold.

Adams claims, relying on these cases, that Fuqua was correctly precluded from introducing feasibility evidence. The foregoing principles do not, however, in our opinion, control the solution of the problem before us.

In this case, Adams relied on the opinion of her expert that the...