Hancock v. R.A. Earnhardt Textile Machinery Div., Inc.

Decision Date31 January 1995
Docket NumberNo. 93-212,93-212
Citation139 N.H. 356,653 A.2d 558
Parties, Prod.Liab.Rep. (CCH) P 14,178 Steven HANCOCK v. R.A. EARNHARDT TEXTILE MACHINERY DIVISION, INC. and another.
CourtNew Hampshire Supreme Court

Burns, Bryant, Hinchey, Cox & Schulte, P.A., Dover (James H. Schulte, on the brief and orally), for plaintiff.

Upton, Sanders & Smith, Concord (Gilbert Upton, on the brief, and Russell F. Hilliard orally), for defendant R.A. Earnhardt Textile Machinery Div., Inc.

Wadleigh, Starr, Peters, Dunn & Chiesa, Manchester (Dean B. Eggert, on the brief and orally), for defendant Blumenthal Mills, Inc.

HORTON, Justice.

The plaintiff, Steven Hancock, appeals from an order of the Superior Court (Fitzgerald, J.) directing a verdict for defendant Blumenthal Mills, Inc. (Blumenthal) in his action for negligence and strict liability. At the close of the plaintiff's evidence, the trial court granted Blumenthal's motion for dismissal or directed verdict on the ground that the plaintiff failed to produce evidence sufficient to prove that Blumenthal ever owned the machine upon which the plaintiff was injured. We affirm.

The plaintiff was injured in the course of his employment at Facemate Pond Lily/Great Falls Company (employer) while operating a textile machine known as an "inspection frame." The plaintiff's injuries occurred when his hand was sucked into the rollers as he tried to steady the machine. The inspection frame upon which the plaintiff was injured was one of four similar machines his employer purchased from defendant R.A. Earnhardt Textile Machinery Division, Inc. (Earnhardt), a reseller of used textile machinery. At trial the plaintiff alleged that Earnhardt purchased from Blumenthal all four of the machines that it sold to the employer. Blumenthal argued that it sold only three machines to Earnhardt and that the fourth must have come from some other source. At the close of the plaintiff's evidence, Blumenthal made a motion, which the court granted, for dismissal or directed verdict on the ground that the plaintiff presented no evidence from which a reasonable jury could conclude that the inspection frame upon which the plaintiff was injured came from Blumenthal.

The primary issue in this case is whether the trial court erred in determining that no rational juror could find that Blumenthal ever owned the inspection frame upon which the plaintiff was injured. "In a civil action the burden of proof is generally on the plaintiff to establish its case by a preponderance of the evidence." Dunlop v. Daigle, 122 N.H. 295, 298, 444 A.2d 519, 520 (1982). "It is quite clear that an essential element of the plaintiff's case [is] the identification of the named defendant as the manufacturer or supplier of the defective product." W. Keeton, Prosser and Keeton on the Law of Torts § 103, at 713 (5th ed. 1984).

"A motion for directed verdict may be granted only if the trial court determines, after considering the evidence and construing all inferences therefrom most favorably to the non-moving party, that no rational juror could conclude that the non-moving party is entitled to any relief." Goodwin v. James, 134 N.H. 579, 582, 595 A.2d 504, 506 (1991). "We will uphold the trial court's ruling on a motion for directed verdict when the record supports the conclusion that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in determining that no rational juror could find for the non-moving party." Id. at 583, 595 A.2d at 507 (citation and quotation omitted). "A defendant is entitled to a directed verdict [only] if the plaintiff offers no evidence from which [a] reasonable [juror] can infer the burden of proof has been sustained." Drop Anchor Realty Trust v. Hartford Fire Ins. Co., 126 N.H. 674, 678, 496 A.2d 339, 342 (1985) (citation and quotation omitted).

The plaintiff concedes that there was no direct testimony that the machine in question was ever owned or sold by Blumenthal. The plaintiff, however, contends that the circumstantial evidence was sufficient to defeat the motion for directed verdict.

The following evidence was admitted at trial. Blumenthal purchased five identical inspection frames from Unlimited Textile Supply Company in 1976. A bill of lading reveals that four inspection frames were shipped from Blumenthal to Earnhardt for storage in 1981. The executive vice-president for Blumenthal testified that one of the four machines that was sent to Earnhardt was sent back to Blumenthal's facility in New Orleans and was never purchased by Earnhardt. Price quotations dated March 9, 1982 from Earnhardt to the employer reveal that Earnhardt had three ninety-six inch inspection frames available for $6500 each and that these machines could be cut down to seventy-two inches for $7500 each. The quotations further indicate that Earnhardt had one seventy-two inch inspection frame available for $5500. An invoice from Blumenthal to Earnhardt dated May 31, 1982, reveals that Earnhardt purchased three ninety-six inch inspection machines from Blumenthal. Inventory control sheets at Earnhardt show that three of the four...

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    ...of proof is generally on the plaintiff to establish its case by a preponderance of the evidence." Hancock v. R.A. Earnhardt Textile Mach. Div., 139 N.H. 356, 357, 653 A.2d 558 (1995) (quotation omitted). Absent legislative direction to the contrary, we conclude that the legislature intended......
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