Croteau v. Olin Corp., 89-1199
| Decision Date | 01 July 1989 |
| Docket Number | No. 89-1199,89-1199 |
| Citation | 884 F.2d 45 |
| Parties | Paul CROTEAU, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. OLIN CORPORATION, Defendant, Appellee. . Heard |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit |
B.J. Branch with whom Backus, Meyer & Solomon, Manchester, N.H., was on brief, for plaintiff, appellant.
Thomas M. Carney with whom Joel I. Dennis, Husch, Eppenberger, Donohue, Cornfeld & Jenkins, St. Louis, Mo., Howard B. Myers and Myers, Jordan & Gfroerer, Concord, N.H., were on brief, for defendant, appellee.
Before CAMPBELL, Chief Judge, TORRUELLA, Circuit Judge, and WOODLOCK, * District Judge.
Plaintiff in this strict products liability action appeals from an order granting defendant's motion for summary judgment. The district court held that, under New Hampshire law, plaintiff could not recover for emotional distress caused by witnessing the injury to his first cousins which resulted from his accidental firing of an allegedly defective firearm. We affirm, essentially on the basis of the district court's opinion, 704 F.Supp. 318 (D.N.H.1989), and add the following observations.
In response to our prompting during oral argument, the parties debated whether the question of plaintiff's right to recover in these circumstances should be certified to the New Hampshire Supreme Court. After carefully considering the arguments and fully reviewing the record, we have decided that certification would be inappropriate for the following reasons. First, one who chooses to litigate his state action in the federal forum (as plaintiff did here) must ordinarily accept the federal court's reasonable interpretation of extant state law rather than seeking extensions via the certification process. See Venezia v. Miller Brewing Co., 626 F.2d 188, 192 n. 5 (1st Cir.1980). On the question as framed below, the district court provided a well-reasoned interpretation of current New Hampshire law, an interpretation to which we owe some deference. Dennis v. Rhode Island Hospital Trust National Bank, 744 F.2d 893, 896 (1st Cir.1984). Second, the extent of any entitlement to certification is "considerably weakened" by the fact that plaintiff did not request certification below. See Fischer v. Bar Harbor Banking and Trust Co., 857 F.2d 4, 8 (1st Cir.1988). Finally, plaintiff's argument regarding his special status as a "user" of the firearm, see Gnirk v. Ford Motor Co., 572 F.Supp. 1201 (D.S.D.1983), was raised for the first time on appeal....
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Putnam Resources v. Pateman
...trails will be blazed." Ryan, 916 F.2d at 744. Accord Porter v. Nutter, 913 F.2d 37, 40-41 (1st Cir.1990); Croteau v. Olin Corp., 884 F.2d 45, 46 (1st Cir.1989); Cantwell v. Univ. of Mass., 551 F.2d 879, 880 (1st 26 It has been said, for instance, that: The charge of fraudulent intent, in a......
-
Larsen v. Pacesetter Systems, Inc.
...action only for severe emotional distress caused by intentional conduct); Croteau v. Olin Corp., 704 F.Supp. 318 (D.N.H.), aff'd, 884 F.2d 45 (1st Cir.1989). Further, in Iowa, where the law of products liability and mental distress is quite similar to that in Hawaii, the Iowa Supreme Court ......
-
Emhart Industries, Inc. v. Home Ins. Co., C.A. No. 02-53 S.
...the same reason, Emhart's alternate request to certify this issue to the Rhode Island Supreme Court is denied. See Croteau v. Olin Corp., 884 F.2d 45, 46 (1st Cir.1989) ("[O]ne who chooses to litigate his state action in the federal forum (as plaintiff did here) must ordinarily accept the f......
-
U.S. v. One Parcel of Real Property With Bldgs., Appurtenances, and Improvements, Known as Plat 20, Lot 17, Great Harbor Neck, New Shoreham, R.I.
... ... Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 325, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2553, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 ... ...