Bogosian v. Mercedes-Benz of North America, Inc.

• Decision Date: 07 October 1996
• Docket Number: No. 96-1287,MERCEDES-BENZ,96-1287
• Citation: 104 F.3d 472
• Parties: 46 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 271 Elizabeth V. BOGOSIAN, Plaintiff, Appellant, v.OF NORTH AMERICA, INC. and Daimler-Benz North America Corporation, Defendants, Appellees. . Heard
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

Page 472

104 F.3d 472

46 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 271

Elizabeth V. BOGOSIAN, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. MERCEDES-BENZ OF NORTH AMERICA, INC. and Daimler-Benz North America Corporation, Defendants, Appellees.

No. 96-1287.

United States Court of Appeals First Circuit.

Heard Oct. 7, 1996.

Decided Jan. 8, 1997.

Bruce Todesco with whom John F. DiMeglio Providence, RI, and Legal Research & Writing, Inc., North Providence, RI, were on brief, for plaintiff, appellant.

Gerald C. DeMaria with whom John F. Kelleher and Higgins, Cavanagh & Cooney, Providence, RI, were on brief, for defendants, appellees.

Before TORRUELLA, Chief Judge, BOWNES, Senior Circuit Judge, and STAHL, Circuit Judge.

STAHL, Circuit Judge.

After being struck and injured by a rolling automobile, plaintiff-appellant Elizabeth V. Bogosian commenced this diversity action in Rhode Island District Court alleging strict product liability, negligence and breach of warranty against Mercedes-Benz of North America, Inc. ("Mercedes-Benz") and Daimler-Benz North America Corporation. ¹ The jury returned a verdict in favor of Mercedes-Benz on the strict liability claim, the only liability theory it considered. ² Bogosian appeals, contending that the district court committed reversible error in (1) granting judgment as a matter of law in favor of Mercedes-Benz on the negligence claim, (2) excluding one of her expert witnesses, (3) excluding evidence of a product modification occurring after the manufacture of the automobile in question, but before the injurious event, and (4) denying her motion for new trial.

I. Facts and Prior Proceedings

The facts are largely undisputed. On July 9, 1992, Bogosian drove her daughter's 1986 Mercedes Benz 560 SEL automobile ("560 SEL") to her home and pulled into the parking area adjacent to the driveway. The pavement on which she parked sloped slightly toward the rear of the car. According to her testimony, Bogosian placed the transmission gear selector lever, located on the console shift between the front driver and passenger seats, in the park position. She did not set the parking brake. She then removed the ignition key, locked the car doors, and walked toward her house. Upon approaching her front door, she decided to check her mail and retraced her steps to the mailbox located near the street. As she was retrieving the mail, the 560 SEL--which had rolled from the parking area--struck her, knocked her down, and ran over her right ankle, causing serious injury.

In July 1994, Bogosian sued the distributor ³ of the automobile (but not the manufacturer) to recover damages for her injuries. Underlying her tort claims were two design defect theories: (1) the absence of a "park ignition interlock," which would have prevented her from removing the ignition key if the vehicle was not in park gear, and (2) the existence of a "false park detent": a tactile phenomenon whereby the operator senses that the park gear is selected but, in fact, the gear selector lever is not fully engaged in park.

II. Judgment As a Matter of Law

Bogosian challenges the district court's grant of Mercedes-Benz's motion, pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 50(a), for judgment as a matter of law on her negligence claim. The court granted the motion at the close of Bogosian's case in chief upon finding that she failed to produce evidence to establish an automobile distributor's standard of care. We review the grant of a Rule 50(a) motion de novo, considering the evidence and reasonable inferences therefrom in the light most favorable to the non-movant. Andrade v. Jamestown Hous. Auth., 82 F.3d 1179, 1186 (1st Cir.1996). The court may grant the motion only if the evidence, so viewed, would not permit a reasonable jury to find for the plaintiff on her claim. Id.

Under Rhode Island law, "[i]n order to sustain a cause of action for negligence the plaintiff is required to establish a standard of care as well as a deviation from that standard." Marshall v. Tomaselli, 118 R.I. 190, 372 A.2d 1280, 1283 (1977). Thus, we review the record to determine if Bogosian introduced evidence sufficient to permit a reasonable jury to conclude that Mercedes-Benz deviated from some pertinent standard of care.

At trial, there was evidence that (1) the automobile industry first began to use park ignition interlocks ⁴ more than ten years before the 1986 sale of the 560 SEL, (2) by 1986, all vehicles sold in the United States having a gear shift on the steering column were equipped with the park interlock device, and (3) by 1986, 40% of vehicles that had a gear shift on the console (as did the 560 SEL) were equipped with the device. There was also testimony that installation of the park ignition interlock would result in a cost to the consumer of five to seven dollars. Bogosian contends, as she did below, that from this evidence the jury could have found that, in 1986, a distributor of a 560 SEL knew or should have known that the safety of the vehicle depended upon a park ignition interlock, and thus, a reasonably prudent distributor would have installed the inexpensive park ignition interlock mechanism. ⁵

Bogosian was required to produce evidence that the distributor of the 560 SEL deviated from a standard of care when it failed to install the park ignition interlock mechanism on her automobile. See Scittarelli v. Providence Gas Co., 415 A.2d 1040, 1043 (R.I.1980) (requiring plaintiff, under negligent inspection and test claim against a distributor, to "establish a standard of care with respect to inspection and testing and the defendant's deviation from that standard"). She presented no evidence--either through customary distributor practices, past practices, or expert testimony--to establish a standard of care by which Mercedes-Benz, as distributor, should have operated. Having utterly failed to establish that Mercedes-Benz acted below a minimum standard of care when it failed to install the park ignition interlock, Bogosian could not have prevailed on her negligence claim. Thus, the district court did not err in granting judgment as a matter of law in favor of Mercedes-Benz on this claim. ⁶

III. Expert Testimony on "False Park Detent" Theory

Bogosian contends that the district court erroneously excluded the proposed expert testimony of Joseph Davidson on the false park detent theory. After conducting an extensive voir dire, the court ruled that Davidson's testimony was inadmissible for three reasons: (1) it was not within Davidson's expertise to opine on the issue of transmission design; (2) his methodology in examining the 560 SEL to determine the cause of Bogosian's injury was unreliable; and (3) the factual foundation for his testimony was inadequate because Bogosian was unable to establish that the vehicle was in substantially the same condition at the time Davidson tested it as it was when the accident occurred.

A. Rule 702 Requirements and Standard of Review

When faced with a proffer of expert testimony, the district court must determine whether the expert witness is qualified and has specialized knowledge that will "assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue." Fed.R.Evid. 702; see generally United States v. Sepulveda, 15 F.3d 1161, 1183 (1st Cir.1993) (citing Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 591, 113 S.Ct. 2786, 2795, 125 L.Ed.2d 469 (1993)), cert. denied, 512 U.S. 1223, 114 S.Ct. 2714, 129 L.Ed.2d 840 (1994). First, the court has broad discretionary powers in determining whether or not the proposed expert is qualified by "knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education." Fed.R.Evid. 702; see generally Richmond Steel, Inc. v. Puerto Rican Am. Ins. Co., 954 F.2d 19, 21 (1st Cir.1992). Next, the court decides if the proposed subject matter of the expert opinion properly concerns "scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge." Fed.R.Evid. 702. Finally, the court performs a gatekeeping function to ascertain whether the testimony is helpful to the trier of fact, i.e., whether it rests on a reliable foundation and is relevant to the facts of the case. See Vadala v. Teledyne Indus., Inc., 44 F.3d 36, 39 (1st Cir.1995); see also Daubert, 509 U.S. at 591, 113 S.Ct. at 2795 (characterizing this consideration as one of "fit.").

"Because gauging an expert witness's usefulness is almost always a case-specific inquiry, the law affords trial judges substantial discretion in connection with the admission or exclusion of opinion evidence." Sepulveda, 15 F.3d at 1183. Thus, we will uphold the district court's ruling in this area unless it is "manifestly erroneous." Salem v. United States Lines Co., 370 U.S. 31, 35, 82 S.Ct. 1119, 1122, 8 L.Ed.2d 313 (1962). With the foregoing precepts in mind, we turn to the facts of this case.

B. Qualifications

The record establishes that Davidson earned a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial and vocational education, and had been certified to teach vocational automobile mechanics. At the time of trial, he was certified by the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence as a master automobile technician for diagnosis and repair of various vehicles, including passenger cars. He worked as an automobile mechanic from 1952 to 1967. Shortly thereafter, he became a "consultant in forensic automotive mechanics," now his full time employment. ⁷

Davidson does not have an engineering degree, and his formal education in engineering was apparently limited to three semesters of "basic" electrical engineering courses at Carnegie-Mellon University before he dropped out. He explained that his hands-on experience made him familiar with automatic transmissions. He conceded that he had never professionally designed a component for an automobile, although he had done so "in the courtroom." He also conceded that he had never designed a transmission or a gear shift selector, and had no formal training in manufacturing automobiles or their components. He saw neither design drawings...