Hines v. Remington Arms Co., Inc.

• Decision Date: 08 December 1994
• Citation: 648 So.2d 331
• Parties: 94-0455 La
• Court: Louisiana Supreme Court

Page 331

648 So.2d 331

94-0455 La. 12/8/94, Prod.Liab.Rep. (CCH) P 14,130

Earl H. HINES, Jr. and Beverly Helms Hines v. REMINGTON ARMS COMPANY, INC. and Sinclair, Inc.

No. 94-C-0455.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

Dec. 8, 1994.

Rehearing Denied Jan. 26, 1995.

John B. Scofield, Patrick D. Gallaugher, Scofield, Gerard, Veron, Hoskins & Soileau, for applicant.

J.B. Jones, Jr., Jennifer J. Bercier, Fred Sinclair, Donald Swanson, for respondent.

[94-0455 La. 1] HALL, Justice ^*.

In this products liability case, the plaintiff, Earl Hines, Jr., was injured when his bench rest target shooting rifle accidently fired into a container of gunpowder, causing it to ignite. Pursuant to a jury verdict finding that neither the rifle nor the gunpowder involved in the accident were defective, the district court entered judgment in favor of the defendants, Sinclair, Inc., the manufacturer of the rifle, Hodgdon Powder Company, Inc. (Hodgdon), the manufacturer of the gunpowder, and Admiral Insurance Company (Admiral), Hodgdon's liability insurer. The court of appeal reversed and entered judgment in favor of the plaintiffs against the defendants. 630 So.2d 809 (La.App. 3d Cir.1993). Hodgdon and Admiral sought writs of certiorari, which we granted in order to review the correctness of the court of appeal decision. 94-0455, (La. 4/7/94); 635 So.2d 1138. Because we find the court of appeal erred, we reverse the court of appeal judgment against Hodgdon and Admiral and reinstate the judgment of the district court as to them. However, because Sinclair did not seek review of the court of appeal judgment, the judgment against Sinclair is not before us and is final. We therefore reverse, in [94-0455 La. 2] part, the court of appeal judgment.

I.

On February 29, 1984, plaintiff, Earl Hines, Jr., received a custom-manufactured target rifle that he had commissioned from defendant, Sinclair, Inc. The rifle in question was an "accurized" Remington Model 700 bolt-action rifle that had been modified extensively by Fred Sinclair, a gunsmith, and the owner of Sinclair, Inc., in order to be suitable for "bench rest" target shooting. Bench rest target shooting is a highly competitive sport requiring great precision, and as a result, bench rest rifles have an extremely light trigger pull for the purpose of reducing movement of the gun when pulling the trigger. Bench rest rifles are intended to be loaded only when the shooter is at a rifle range, with the gun resting on the bench, pointed down-range.

On the morning of the accident, Mr. Hines picked up his new rifle from a local gun shop, to which Sinclair had it shipped. Upon returning home, Hines went to a room in his home which he had converted into a "reloading room" where his equipment and supplies for modifying and hand loading his cartridges were located, including a reloading bench, several reloading manuals, presses, dies, shells, loaded cartridges, primers, and a large quantity of smokeless gunpowder. Approximately thirty-seven one pound containers of this powder, of various brand names, were stacked along the back of his reloading bench.

When he entered the room, Hines went to his reloading bench and placed the rifle upon the bench with the muzzle pointed at his containers of Hodgdon 4895 gunpowder, a mere six to eight inches away. Hines then loaded a live cartridge into the rifle's chamber, and, according to Hines, upon closing the bolt the gun fired, with [94-0455 La. 3] the bullet striking and igniting the Hodgdon powder. ¹ A chain-reaction followed that resulted in what the plaintiffs have characterized as an explosion and what the defendants have characterized as a deflagration, or flash fire. As a result of the accident, Hines was severely burned and the resultant stay in the hospital led to further complications, all of which coalesced into permanent and painful personal injuries to Hines. He also suffered extensive property damage to his home as a result of the ensuing fire.

Mr. Hines and his wife, Beverly Helms Hines, timely brought suit for these and other losses against Remington Arms Company, Inc., the manufacturer of the rifle before modification, and Sinclair, Inc., the modifier of the basic Remington rifle, claiming the rifle to be defective. Sinclair, Inc. did not answer the petition and a preliminary default was entered against it. Remington was dismissed on summary judgment. See Hines v. Remington Arms Co., 522 So.2d 152 (La.App. 3d Cir.1988), writ denied, 524 So.2d 522 (La.1988).

The plaintiffs later amended their suit to add the manufacturer of the powder struck by the bullet, Hodgdon, and its liability insurer, Admiral. The amendment adding Hodgdon and Admiral as defendants was filed after the one year prescriptive period and both Hodgdon and Admiral filed peremptory exceptions of liberative prescription, which were not acted upon by the district court. In the amended petition, the plaintiffs alleged that the powder was defective and claimed that Hodgdon had failed to properly warn of the dangers of the powder. In 1989, Hodgdon and Admiral filed a motion for partial summary judgment, which was treated by the trial court as a motion in limine to exclude the presentation of any evidence or testimony before the jury [94-0455 La. 4] concerning Hodgdon's alleged failure to warn. The trial court ruled in favor of Hodgdon, prohibiting the presentation of any evidence or remarks in the presence of the jury on the failure to warn claim. Writs to the court of appeal were denied. On the morning of trial, the plaintiffs attempted to set aside this ruling, and again the trial court refused to allow the presentation of evidence on the failure to warn claim, finding that Mr. Hines was a sophisticated user of rifles and gunpowder who had ample knowledge of the dangers of firing a weapon into a container of gunpowder.

After an eight day trial, the jury returned a verdict finding that neither the Sinclair rifle nor the Hodgdon smokeless gunpowder were defective, and judgment was entered in favor of Sinclair, Hodgdon and Admiral accordingly. On appeal, a five judge panel, with two judges dissenting, reversed the district court judgment. 630 So.2d 809 (La.App. 3d Cir.1993).

In reversing, the court of appeal found the class of rifles involved in this accident to be unreasonably dangerous per se and thus found Sinclair to be liable for the plaintiffs' injuries. As to Hodgdon and Admiral, the court of appeal concluded that the trial court erred in excluding all evidence pertaining to the plaintiffs' failure to warn claim and held that evidence concerning Hodgdon's alleged failure to inform consumers of an alternative safer way to store the powder, namely storing the powder in a wooden box, should have been admissible. Upon de novo review of the record, the court of appeal found the warning provided by Hodgdon on its containers of gunpowder to be inadequate, as they made no reference to this alternative safer method of storage, and that such storage method would have prevented the accident. Accordingly, the court of appeal found Hodgdon liable for the plaintiffs' injuries.

The court of appeal then allocated fault as follows: thirty-[94-0455 La. 5] three percent to Sinclair, Inc.; thirty-three percent to Hodgdon (and its liability insurer, Admiral, up to its $500,000 policy limit), and thirty-four percent to Hines. The court then awarded $2,458,128.92 to Mr. Hines, and $50,000 to Mrs. Hines for her loss of consortium, both awards subject to reduction for the percentage of fault attributable to Mr. Hines. On the basis that Sinclair, as the manufacturer of the Sinclair rifle, is presumed to know of the vices of the product it sells, the court further awarded attorney fees against Sinclair for an amount equal to twenty-five percent of the award. On rehearing, the court of appeal reduced the award to $2,322,450.45. ²

On Hodgdon's and Admiral's writ application, we granted certiorari to consider the correctness of the court of appeal's decision. 94-0455, (La. 4/7/94); 635 So.2d 1138. Sinclair did not apply to this Court for a writ of certiorari. Thus, the only importance of discussing Sinclair's liability is in relation to Hodgdon's and Admiral's plea of prescription. However, since we find no liability on the part of Hodgdon, it is not necessary to consider their plea of prescription or to discuss Sinclair's liability.

II.

The applicable law in this products liability case is that set out in Halphen v. Johns-Manville Sales Corp., 484 So.2d 110 (La.1986). ³ In order to recover from a manufacturer, the plaintiff must prove that the harm resulted from the condition of the product, that the condition made the product unreasonably dangerous [94-0455 La. 6] to normal use, and that the condition existed at the time the product left the manufacturer's control. Cosse v. Allen-Bradley Co., 601 So.2d 1349 (La.1992); Reilly v. Dynamic Exploration Inc., 571 So.2d 140, 144 (La.1990); Halphen, 484 So.2d at 113; Bell v. Jet Wheel Blast, 462 So.2d 166, 168 (La.1985). Under Halphen, there are four categories of unreasonably dangerous products: (1) products unreasonably dangerous per se; (2) products constructed with an unintended condition making them more dangerous than they were designed to be; (3) products with any danger inherent in normal use not known or obvious to the user of which the manufacturer has not adequately warned; and (4) products unreasonably dangerous in design. Halphen, 484 So.2d at 114-15.

Whether a product is unreasonably dangerous, and thereby is defective, is a question of fact to be made by the factfinder. Gilboy v. American Tobacco Co., 582 So.2d 1263 (La.1991); Bloxom v. Bloxom, 512 So.2d 839 (La.1987). The jury found that the gunpowder was not defective.

Reversal of the jury's factual finding should only occur where the factfinder is manifestly erroneous or clearly wrong. Where there are conflicts in testimony, the factfinder's reasonable evaluations of credibility and...