Egbert v. Nissan North America, Inc.

• Decision Date: 24 August 2007
• Docket Number: No. 20060433.,20060433.
• Parties: Emily EGBERT and Jerad Egbert, individually and as guardians for J.E., a minor, Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. NISSAN NORTH AMERICA, INC.; Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.; and Central Glass Co., Ltd., Defendants and Appellees.
• Court: Utah Supreme Court

167 P.3d 1058

2007 UT 64

Emily EGBERT and Jerad Egbert, individually and as guardians for J.E., a minor, Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. NISSAN NORTH AMERICA, INC.; Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.; and Central Glass Co., Ltd., Defendants and Appellees.

No. 20060433.

Supreme Court of Utah.

August 24, 2007.

David C. Biggs, Piero G. Ruffinengo, Preston L. Handy, Darren A. Davis, Joseph W. Steele, Kenneth D. Lougee, Salt Lake City, Jill M. Madajczyk, Patrick M. Ardis, Memphis, TN, for plaintiffs.

Michael D. Zimmerman, Tracy H. Fowler, Kamie F. Brown, Salt Lake City, for defendants.

DURRANT, Justice:

INTRODUCTION

¶ 1 The Federal District Court for the District of Utah has certified to us the following two questions:

1. In a product liability case where a manufacturer's product complies with applicable government safety standards, should the jury be instructed that a presumption of non-defectiveness has arisen under Utah Code Ann. § 78-15-6(3)? If so, should the instruction require clear and convincing evidence of a defect to rebut the presumption, or is proof by a preponderance of the evidence sufficient for rebuttal?

2. Does Utah recognize the "enhanced injury" theory of liability outlined in § 16(a) of the Restatement (Third) of Torts: Products Liability?

As to the first question, we hold that the jury should be instructed that the presumption established by Utah Code section 78-15-6(3) has arisen and that a preponderance of the evidence is sufficient to rebut it. As to the second question, we hold that Utah does recognize the "enhanced injury" theory of liability as outlined in section 16(a) of the Restatement (Third) of Torts.

BACKGROUND

¶ 2 The underlying federal case giving rise to the certified questions involves the facts that follow. In March 2002, Jerad and Emily Egbert were involved in an automobile accident on Interstate 15 near Cedar City, Utah. Mr. Egbert was driving the couple's 1998 Nissan Altima, and Mrs. Egbert, who was nearly eight months pregnant with their daughter J.E., was riding in the front passenger seat. When Mr. Egbert tried to avoid another vehicle, he lost control of the car, and it rolled off the freeway approximately two and one-half times.

¶ 3 At some point during the accident, the front passenger window shattered. The window was made of tempered glass and met the applicable federal safety standards in place at the time the car was manufactured. Mrs. Egbert was ejected through that window and suffered a broken pelvis, injuries to her bladder, abrasions, and contusions. J.E. was born prematurely by emergency C-section following the accident and has a serious brain injury. The parties dispute whether and to what extent the ejection proximately caused J.E.'s brain injury.

¶ 4 The Egberts brought products liability claims against Nissan under two different theories: strict liability and negligence. They assert that the front passenger window was defectively designed because it was made with tempered glass, which shatters on impact, and not laminated glass, which is designed to remain intact even if it cracks and acts as a secondary restraint mechanism to keep occupants inside the vehicle. The Egberts argue that, had the Altima's window been made of laminated glass, Mrs. Egbert may have remained in the vehicle during the rollover and her injuries would have been less severe. They also argue that, had Mrs. Egbert not been ejected, J.E. may not have suffered a brain injury.

¶ 5 Nissan argues that the Altima was not defective because the window complied with applicable government safety regulations, which allowed Nissan to use either tempered glass or laminated glass in the passenger window. In addition, Nissan argues that it was not negligent with respect to the design and manufacture of the car by using tempered glass in the front passenger window instead of laminated glass. Nissan further claims that the glass was not the proximate cause of any of Mrs. Egbert's or J.E.'s injuries and that Mrs. Egbert would have been ejected from the Altima during the accident even if the window had been made with laminated glass.

¶ 6 While preparing for trial, the parties disputed several areas of Utah law. The federal district court determined that the two issues certified to this court are controlling in the case and have not yet been decided under Utah law. It subsequently certified both questions to us pursuant to rule 41 of the Utah Rules of Appellate Procedure.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 7 A certified question from the federal district court does not present us with a decision to affirm or reverse a lower court's decision; as such, "traditional standards of review do not apply."¹ "On certification, we `answer the legal questions presented' without `resolving the underlying dispute.'"²

ANALYSIS

I. THE JURY SHOULD BE INSTRUCTED THAT A PRESUMPTION OF NONDEFECTIVENESS HAS ARISEN UNDER UTAH CODE SECTION 78-15-6(3) AND THAT PROOF BY A PREPONDERANCE OF THE EVIDENCE IS SUFFICIENT TO OVERCOME IT

¶ 8 The first question certified to us by the federal district court consists of two parts. First, "[i]n a product liability case where a manufacturer's product complies with applicable government safety standards, should the jury be instructed that a presumption of non-defectiveness has arisen under Utah Code Ann. § 78-15-6(3)?"³ And second, "[i]f so, should the instruction require clear and convincing evidence of a defect to rebut the presumption, or is proof by a preponderance of the evidence sufficient for rebuttal?" We address both questions in turn.

¶ 9 As to the first question, we hold that the jury should be informed of the presumption of nondefectiveness under Utah Code section 78-15-6(3). That section reads, in its entirety, as follows:

There is a rebuttable presumption that a product is free from any defect or defective condition where the alleged defect in the plans or designs for the product or the methods and techniques of manufacturing, inspecting and testing the product were in conformity with government standards established for that industry which were in existence at the time the plans or designs for the product or the methods and techniques of manufacturing, inspecting and testing the product were adopted.⁴

¶ 10 It is common to instruct juries as to the law, and as to presumptions specifically. Presumptions generally must be incorporated into the fact-finding process for juries to appropriately discharge their obligations as fact finders. The Egberts do not cite a good reason, and we cannot conceive of one, not to instruct the jury here that the rebuttable presumption of nondefectiveness applies to Nissan.

¶ 11 We next consider whether the presumption in the jury instruction may be rebutted by a preponderance of the evidence or whether clear and convincing evidence is required. As we have noted, where, as in this case, the standard of proof required to rebut a presumption is not specified in the statute, "[t]he degree of proof required in a particular type of proceeding has `traditionally been left to the judiciary to resolve.'"⁵

¶ 12 As to standards of proof generally, the United States Supreme Court has said as follows:

The function of a standard of proof, as that concept is embodied in the Due Process Clause and in the realm of factfinding, is to "instruct the factfinder concerning the degree of confidence our society thinks he should have in the correctness of factual conclusions for a particular type of adjudication." The standard serves to allocate the risk of error between the litigants and to indicate the relative importance attached to the ultimate decision.⁶

Thus, proof beyond a reasonable doubt is the standard appropriate for criminal defendants who stand to lose liberty or life upon conviction, while a preponderance of the evidence is the level of proof required in the typical civil case where only money damages are at stake.⁷

¶ 13 The intermediate standard of proof — clear and convincing evidence — is appropriate when the interests at stake in a civil case are "particularly important" and "more substantial than the mere loss of money."⁸ For example, the United States Supreme Court has applied this standard in cases involving civil commitment,⁹ deportation,¹⁰ and denaturalization.¹¹ We applied this standard in Uzelac v. Thurgood (In re Estate of S.T.T.),¹² where we considered the appropriate standard of proof for rebutting the "presumption that parents act in the best interests of their children" in Utah's Grandparent Visitation Statute.¹³ We held "that a clear and convincing standard of proof should apply to satisfy due process requirements" and explained that this was the case "[b]ecause the parental presumption deals with parental liberty interests, and accordingly should be afforded great deference by the courts."¹⁴

¶ 14 In this case, we hold that a preponderance of the evidence is sufficient to overcome the presumption of nondefectiveness in Utah Code section 78-15-6(3). The kind of interest for which a higher standard of proof is appropriate, such as the parental liberty interest in In re Estate of S.T.T., does not exist here. Nissan argues that clear and convincing evidence should be required to rebut the presumption because the government invested substantial amounts of time and money in studying the regulation at issue and that manufacturers should benefit by complying with such a carefully considered regulation. Nissan argues that, given the government's extensive studies, "it would be poor public policy . . . to permit lay jurors to reevaluate the issue and decide by a mere preponderance of the evidence relating to a single accident that [the government] was wrong." But the government's substantial investment in the safety regulation does not elevate a manufacturer's interest in that regulation to that of a fundamental liberty or particularly important interest. Thus, we are not persuaded that the interest at stake here rises to the level of requiring...