International Armament Corp. v. King
| Decision Date | 20 February 1985 |
| Docket Number | No. C-3343,C-3343 |
| Parties | INTERNATIONAL ARMAMENT CORPORATION, et al., Petitioners, v. Clifford Wayne KING, Respondent. |
| Court | Texas Supreme Court |
Hutcheson & Grundy, Darrell E. Reed, Jr., Houston, Scott, Douglass & Keeton, W. Page Keeton, Austin, for petitioners.
Longley & Maxwell, Joe K. Longley, Austin, for respondent.
This is a products liability case. Clifford Wayne King was injured when his "Star Gauge" shotgun misfired. The shotgun was manufactured by Armas Erbi S. Coop. (Armas Erbi), a Spanish corporation, imported by Petitioner, International Armament Corporation (Interarms), and sold to King by Oshman's Sporting Goods Company, Texas, Inc., (Oshman's).
Pursuant to a jury verdict, the trial court rendered judgment for King which awarded him $234,053.60 actual damages against Oshman's and Interarms, $1,500,000 punitive damages against Interarms, $4,400,000 punitive damages against Armas Erbi, and attorneys' fees. Armas Erbi made no appearance. The court of appeals affirmed the judgment of the trial court. 674 S.W.2d 413. Interarms and Oshman's do not contest the award of actual damages; however, they do contest the award of punitive damages and attorneys' fees.
The pivotal issue before us is whether there is any evidence to support the award of punitive damages against Interarms. We hold there is, and therefore affirm the judgment of the court of appeals.
The gun in question is a side by side double barrel shotgun which King purchased from Oshman's in September, 1979. On November 24, 1979, King and some of his relatives were target shooting on a relative's farm. The shotgun malfunctioned and King's stepfather took the weapon to inspect it. When his stepfather completed the inspection of the shotgun and closed the receiver, the shotgun fired, striking King in the leg. At all times during the inspection process the weapon's safety was engaged. It is undisputed that the shotgun fired while the safety was engaged and without anyone touching the triggers.
The shotgun in question utilized the Anson-Deli automatic safety design. This safety operates only on the trigger, as opposed to operating on the hammer and firing pin. In other words, when the safety is engaged the trigger cannot be moved; however, the safety does not prevent the hammer from striking the firing pin which causes the gun to fire. This Anson-Deli type automatic safety is a common design and has been widely used for over 100 years.
The jury findings pertinent to the punitive damages issue in this case are:
(1) Interarms failed to give an adequate warning that the gun could fire while the "safety" was engaged but while the triggers were not engaged;
(2) the failure to warn rendered the shotgun unreasonably dangerous;
(3) the failure to warn was an unconscionable action;
(4) Interarms knowingly engaged in such unconscionable action;
(5) the failure to warn constituted reckless, wanton and grossly negligent conduct;
(6) Interarms knowingly engaged in such conduct;
(7) such conduct was a proximate cause of King's injuries.
In reviewing a no evidence point we consider only the evidence and inferences tending to support the jury verdict and disregard all evidence to the contrary. If there is any evidence of probative value to support the jury verdict we must affirm. Garza v. Alviar, 395 S.W.2d 821 (Tex.1965). The judgment of the court of appeals can be affirmed only upon a finding that there is some evidence of probative value that Interarms' failure to warn was a producing cause of King's injury and, further, that such failure constituted reckless, wanton and grossly negligent conduct.
This Court held in Burk Royalty Co. v. Walls, 616 S.W.2d 911, 922, (Tex.1981):
The essence of gross negligence is not the neglect, which must, of course, exist. What lifts ordinary negligence into gross negligence is the mental state of the defendant; that is what justifies the penal nature of the imposition of exemplary damages. The plaintiff must show that the defendant was consciously, i.e., knowingly, indifferent to his rights, welfare and safety. In other words, the plaintiff must show that the defendant knew about the peril, but his acts or omissions demonstrated that he didn't care. Such conduct can be active or passive in nature. ... All actions or circumstances indicating a state of mind amounting to a conscious indifference must be examined in deciding if there is some evidence of gross negligence.
The relevant evidence is primarily derived from the testimony of four expert witnesses. The first expert called by Interarms was Russ J. Moure, its Director of Engineering. Moure supervised the examination of shotguns as they were received by Interarms. He was extremely well-informed about guns and gunsmithing, having been in the gun business for 35 years. In addition, he was quite familiar with the intricate workings of firearms in general and shotguns in particular. Moure performed a complete inspection of the first two shotguns received from Armas Erbi. The inspection included a close examination of both the internal mechanism of the weapons and of the external "cosmetic" appearance. For these reasons, Moure's testimony is the most probative and his testimony will be summarized first.
Moure testified that he knew the "Star Gauge" shotgun, as designed, could fire if the trigger was not touched, even with the safety engaged, if the sear and the sear notch on the hammer fit together poorly. He added that this phenomenon would occur if the breech were closed abruptly.
Moure agreed that the shotguns which he inspected were not assembled with a high degree of care and were not finished with meticulous care; the internal parts of the shotgun, such as the sears, hammers and locking levers, were not completely machined but were partially handfiled; and the moving parts were not completely polished...
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