Edic ex rel. Edic v. Century Products Co.
| Decision Date | 31 March 2004 |
| Docket Number | No. 03-10486.,03-10486. |
| Citation | 364 F.3d 1276 |
| Parties | Dennis EDIC, as parent and next friend of Dylan EDIC, minor son, Melissa Edic, as parent and next friend of Dylan Edic, minor son, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. CENTURY PRODUCTS COMPANY, a foreign corporation and a division of Graco Children's Products, Inc., a foreign corporation, both subsidiaries of Newell-Rubbermaid, a foreign corporation, Newell-Rubbermaid, a foreign corporation, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit |
Jacqulyn Mack, Kerry E. Mack, Kerry E. Mack, P.A., Englewood, FL, for Edics.
F. Laurens Brock, William Lee Maddux, Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel, P.C., Chattanooga, TN, for Defendants-Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
Before EDMONDSON, Chief Judge, and BIRCH and FARRIS*, Circuit Judges.
This case arises out of an automobile collision during which eighteen-month-old Dylan Edic was ejected from his child restraint system (CRS). Dylan's parents, Dennis and Melissa Edic, filed a product liability suit, under Florida law, against the manufacturers of the CRS claiming that Dylan's ejectment was due to a defect in the CRS. They asserted that this defect had caused secondary injuries to Dylan beyond that which he would have endured from the primary collision alone. At the end of trial, the district court granted judgment as a matter of law to defendants, Century Products Company and Newell Rubbermaid Corporation (collectively, Century),1 for two reasons. First, the district court found that the Edics had not provided sufficient evidence that the ejectment enhanced Dylan's injuries. Second, the district court held that the Edics had not provided sufficient evidence to permit Florida's Cassisi inference of a manufacturing defect. Cassisi v. Maytag Co., 396 So.2d 1140, 1148 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1981).
The Edics appeal the district court's grant of judgment as a matter of law as well as two of the district court's evidentiary rulings. We find no error in the district court's evidentiary rulings. However, we do find that the Edics provided sufficient evidence for a reasonable jury to infer that the CRS was defective and for a reasonable jury to conclude that these defects enhanced Dylan's injuries. Accordingly, we AFFIRM in part and REVERSE in part.
Because this case reviews a grant of judgment as a matter of law for Century, we look at all the facts in the light most favorable to the Edics.
Dylan's father, Dennis Edic, was driving his Volvo station wagon when a Pontiac driven by a non-party, Palma Trotta, collided into the right side of the Volvo at 40 miles per hour. The impact of the collision crushed in the passenger side of the Volvo more than two feet and caused it to spin clockwise approximately 270° before coming to a stop. Dennis testified that, before he began driving on the day of the collision, he had placed Dylan into a child restraint system ("CRS") manufactured by Century Products Company. After the collision, Dylan was no longer in the CRS, but lying in the back of the car with a number of injuries, including a head wound.
From these facts, the Edics deduced that Dylan somehow had been ejected from the CRS and concluded that the cause of the ejection was a manufacturing defect in the CRS. The Edics then filed this action in Florida state court asserting that Century should be held strictly liable for the alleged manufacturing defect in the CRS.2 The Edics filed suit both: (1) individually seeking damages for their loss of filial consortium; and (2) as next friends for their son, seeking damages for Dylan's head injuries.3
At trial, the Edics relied on the Cassisi inference to prove a defect in the CRS. Under Florida law, the Cassisi inference allows a jury to infer that a product is defective when it (a) malfunctions (b) during normal use. Cassisi, 396 So.2d at 1148. On appeal, the Edics argue that they proved the malfunction requirement of Cassisi by showing that a CRS is intended to restrain children during collisions and that this CRS failed to restrain Dylan in this collision. With regard to the normal use requirement, the Edics argue that it was foreseeable to Century that the CRS would be involved in a side-impact automobile collision at 40 miles per hour and that case law supports the idea that "normal use" includes use that is reasonably foreseeable.
To prove a malfunction, the Edics proffered the discovery deposition of David Galambos, the corporate representative of defendant Graco. In his deposition, Galambos conceded that the CRS is intended to provide restraint to a child: R19 at 132. Moreover, Century's experts in biomechanics and accident reconstruction indicated that the CRS was not functioning as it should have during this collision. Specifically, both experts testified that this type of CRS, if the straps were properly adjusted, should have restrained a child of Dylan's size in this type of collision. R21 at 77, 183. The Edics also provided the testimony of several eyewitnesses to the collision supporting the Edics' contention that the "CRS" had not restrained Dylan during the collision. Sheila Cora, Donald Morrison, and Leslie McAlpine all testified that they saw Dylan in the back of the car rather than in the CRS immediately after the collision.4
The Edics also put forth evidence tending to show that Dylan's head injury (the only injury for which they seek damages) could have been caused by his ejection from the CRS. Most significantly, Patricia Merritt, another eyewitness to the collision, testified that she had an unobstructed view of the inside of the Volvo from her minivan, which was approximately two car lengths behind the Edics' Volvo. From this vantage point, she saw "a child fly up into the air" at the moment of impact and "hit its head into the top of the ceiling of the car." R20 at 236. Merritt also testified that she saw the child land on the "back portion seat of the car." Id.
The Edics also presented the videotaped deposition of Dr. Gerald Tuite, the neurosurgeon who treated Dylan's injuries, whose testimony lent some support to their argument that the ejection caused a secondary head injury. Tuite testified that his examination revealed "an open depressed skull fracture in the right parietal area." R12, Ex. 1 at 11. Although Dr. Tuite could not determine the exact source of Dylan's injury, he did state that the cause was "some sort of blow" to the right side of Dylan's head, which was consistent with Merritt's testimony that Dylan hit the right side of his head against the ceiling of the Volvo after being ejected. Id. at 57.
In addition, the Edics presented blood evidence indicating that Dylan's head injury did not occur while he was in the car seat. Specifically, witness testimony established that Dylan's injury was of a type prone to profuse bleeding and that Dylan was, in fact, profusely bleeding, yet no traces of blood were found on the CRS. R17 at 10, 27, 48, 61. In contrast, Dennis's mother, Belinda Edic, who inspected the Volvo a few weeks after the collision, testified that she saw a stain in the back of the car, not on the CRS, which, in her opinion, looked like a blood stain. Id. at 65-66.
The Edics also rebutted Century's allegations that Dennis had misused the CRS with testimony including that of (1) a Florida Highway Patrol trooper who had investigated the accident scene and who testified that the CRS was properly placed and mounted in the rear seat; (2) Rich Holsinger, who had given the Edics the CRS for Dylan's first birthday and who testified that the CRS was "brand-new in a sealed box from the store," R19 at 68; (3) Dennis's testimony that the CRS had never been damaged or modified during the time that the Edics had owned it and that he had been taught, as part of a Lamaze class, how to place a child in a CRS to ensure that the harness straps fit tightly.
After the Edics rested their case, Century called two expert witnesses. The first witness, Kevin Breen, was an accident reconstructionist who cast some doubt on Merritt's ability to see what happened during the collision. He offered his expert opinion that "[l]ess than a tenth of a second" would have transpired "from the time the Pontiac first [struck] the Volvo until the point of maximum crush." R21 at 57. Similarly, Century's expert in biomechanics, Dr. James H. McElhaney, testified that car crashes happen too quickly for witnesses to be able to see what is happening to the occupants. McElhaney also testified that, in his opinion, Dylan's injuries were caused at the moment the Pontiac collided into the Volvo — while Dylan was still in the CRS — because the impact on the Volvo's passenger side would have driven the passenger door into Dylan's space.
However, during cross examination, both Breen and McElhaney also conceded that they would have expected Dylan to remain in the CRS, if it were properly positioned, in a collision of this severity. In fact, McElhaney, specifically opined that the CRS "would have restrained Dylan in this collision if the shoulder straps [were] properly adjusted." Id. at 183.
Following the presentation of the Edics' case in chief, Century moved for judgment as a matter of law. The district court reserved its ruling on this motion until after Century presented its case. When Century renewed the motion at the close of all the proof, the district court granted it on two grounds.
First, the district court found that the Edics had produced no evidence that Dylan's head injury was attributable to the CRS's performance, rather than to the primary collision. Specifically, the district court found that there was no...
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