Lytle v. Ford Motor Co.

• Decision Date: 07 September 2004
• Docket Number: No. 54A04-0402-CV-104.,54A04-0402-CV-104.
• Citation: 814 N.E.2d 301
• Parties: Steven LYTLE, Individually and as Guardian of the Person and Estate of Kyong Lytle and as Parent and Natural Guardian of Michelle Lytle, Appellant-Plaintiff, v. FORD MOTOR COMPANY, Appellee-Defendant.
• Court: Indiana Appellate Court

814 N.E.2d 301

Steven LYTLE, Individually and as Guardian of the Person and Estate of Kyong Lytle and as Parent and Natural Guardian of Michelle Lytle, Appellant-Plaintiff, v. FORD MOTOR COMPANY, Appellee-Defendant.

No. 54A04-0402-CV-104.

Court of Appeals of Indiana.

September 7, 2004.

Rehearing Denied December 2, 2004.

Roger L. Pardieck, Pardieck & Gill, Seymour, IN, Attorney for Appellant.

James D. Johnson, Rudolph, Fine, Porter, Johnson, LLP, Evansville, IN, Attorney for Amicus Defense Trial Counsel of Indiana.

John Joseph Tanner, Andrea Roberts, Catherine A. Meeker, Baker & Daniels, Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellee.

OPINION

BAKER, Judge.

Nearly six years after we first issued an opinion in this action, this case is before us once again. Appellant-plaintiff Steven Lytle, appeals the entry of summary judgment granted in favor of appellee-defendant Ford Motor Company (Ford) on his product liability claim against Ford for defective seatbelt design, alleging that the trial court erred in determining that evidence submitted by Lytle's expert witnesses based on their observations and deductive reasoning was insufficient to oppose Ford's "technical and scientifically relevant evidence based on reliable scientific principles." Appellant's Br. p. 9. More specifically, Lytle argues that the trial court erred in its application of Indiana Evidence Rule 702, that it improperly granted Ford's motion to strike several affidavits and other exhibits on relevancy grounds and that it had improperly weighed the evidence at the summary judgment stage of the proceedings. Concluding that the trial court properly granted Ford's motion for summary judgment, we affirm.

FACTS¹

As we reported in Lytle v. Ford Motor Co., 696 N.E.2d 465 (Ind.Ct.App.1998), trans. denied, the relevant facts of this case are as follows:

On August 31, 1987, Lytle, his wife Kyong and their daughter Michelle were riding in their 1987 Ford Ranger pickup truck when it was struck by another vehicle. The force of the collision caused their truck to skid and roll over several times. Although Lytle contends that Kyong was wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident, she was thrown from the truck. As a result, Kyong suffered permanent brain damage, while Lytle and Michelle, who were restrained by their seat belts, incurred only minor injuries.

In August of 1989, Lytle filed a complaint against Ford, alleging that Kyong's enhanced injuries were caused by a design defect in Ford's seat belts. Specifically, Lytle alleged that the seat belt buckle inertially released as a result of the acceleration forces which occurred during the accident. In the alternative, Lytle alleged that the improper placement of the seat belt buckles combined with the ease with which Kyong's buckle could be released, caused it to inadvertently release when it came in contact with either Michelle's body or clothing or her buckle. In response, Ford filed an answer denying Lytle's allegations, contending that its seat belt design was not defective and that Kyong was not wearing her seat belt at the time of the accident.

On August 23, 1996, Ford filed a motion in limine seeking to exclude evidence of any design defects other than those relating to inadvertent release, inertial release or defects in the passenger door. Record at volume 8: page 1858. On September 19, 1996, during the hearing on Ford's motion in limine, Lytle's attorney informed the court that, "the only issue concerns the buckle and in that regard its [sic] simply the design of the buckle, the selection of this particular buckle compared to other safer alternative designs, and the failure to test the buckles." R. at 39:9057. Thereafter, the trial court granted Ford's motion, concluding that the only issues remaining concerned the buckle's design and selection and Ford's failure to properly test the buckle. R. at 13:2889.

On August 23, 1996, Ford also filed a motion in limine seeking to exclude the testimony of Lytle's expert witnesses, Billy Peterson and John Marcosky. Specifically, Ford contended that Peterson's testimony regarding inertial release was not scientifically reliable and would not assist the trier of fact. Ford further argued that any probative value that the testimony would provide would be substantially outweighed by the prejudice to Ford. Additionally, Ford contended that Marcosky's testimony regarding inertial and inadvertent release "was not based on reliable analysis or knowledge and would not assist the trier of fact." R. at 8:1879. In September of 1996, after a hearing on the motion in limine, the trial court entered an order excluding Marcosky's testimony because Lytle failed to demonstrate that the testimony was based upon any particular skill, knowledge, experience or expertise or that it would assist the jury. R. at 13:2891-92. The trial court also excluded Peterson's testimony regarding inertial release because he could not show that the forces and circumstances which were present during his pendulum tests and which permitted the seat belts to inertially release, were sufficiently similar to the forces and circumstances which are present in a "real world" accident, or which were present during the Lytle's accident. R. at 13:2926-28.

Following the court's ruling, during an offer of proof, Peterson testified that his pendulum tests demonstrated that inertial release can occur at less than peak acceleration of between 40-60 g forces. Therefore, he argued, because Ford's tests had demonstrated that buckles could be exposed to forces of 40-60 g's during a real world accident, his tests proved that a seat belt could inertially release during a real world accident. However, the court again ruled that his testimony was inadmissible, finding that Lytle had failed to establish that the forces present during Peterson's tests were similar enough to forces which are present in a real world accident.

On October 7, 1996, Ford filed a motion for summary judgment, alleging that, without testimony from Marcosky and Peterson, Lytle could not establish a genuine issue of material fact regarding design defect and causation. Thereafter, Lytle filed a motion in opposition to summary judgment, in which he argued that the testimony of his expert witnesses was admissible. Nevertheless, the trial court granted Ford's motion for summary judgment and incorporated its previous rulings excluding Peterson's testimony. The court also found that Lytle had abandoned his claim for inadvertent release, that Marcosky's and Peterson's testimony regarding inertial release was inadmissible and that, without expert testimony, Lytle presented no genuine issue of material fact regarding defect, a safer alternative design or causation.

Id. at 467-68. In deciding the first Lytle appeal, we held, among other things, that the trial court erred in determining that Lytle had abandoned his theory of inadvertent release. However, we also concluded that the trial court properly excluded Peterson's and Marcosky's testimony regarding inertial release and, therefore, the trial court properly granted summary judgment on this theory. We also determined that even though expert testimony from Marcosky was properly excluded regarding inadvertent release, it was also demonstrated that the trial court did not exclude Peterson's testimony on this theory. As a result, we remanded the cause with instructions that the case should proceed on Lytle's theory of inadvertent release. Id. at 474.

Following the appeal, Ford filed a second motion for summary judgment and motions in limine on May 16, 2001, to exclude the expert testimony of Billy Peterson and Thomas Horton. Sometime thereafter, Peterson died and Lytle retained Dr. Anil Khadilkar as an expert witness. Ford's second motion for summary judgment was held in abeyance and, following additional discovery, the company filed a third motion for summary judgment on October 2003, seeking to exclude all of Lytle's expert witnesses.

Ford contended that it was entitled to judgment as a matter of law because its uncontradicted expert testimony established that the seatbelt assemblies in the Ford Ranger were not defectively designed, and Lytle failed to present any evidence to contradict that theory. Appellant's App. p. 417. Along with the motion for summary judgment, Ford sought to exclude Lytle's expert witnesses on the grounds that their testimony was inadmissible and not scientifically reliable with respect to the issue of Ford's alleged negligence or design defect. Moreover, Ford contended that even if the proposed expert testimony could be admitted, summary judgment should still be granted because Lytle failed to put forth any evidence demonstrating that the seatbelt assemblies were defective or that feasible, safer, and more practical designs were available and would have afforded better protection. Ford also alleged that Lytle's designated evidence failed to establish that there were alternative designs that could have prevented the injury and that the specific injuries to Mrs. Lytle were proximately caused by the alleged defective seatbelt assemblies.

Following a hearing, the trial court granted Ford's motion to strike several of Lytle's exhibits and affidavits, and proceeded to enter summary judgment for Ford. It was determined that, for purposes of summary judgment, the seatbelt was in fact latched and was in the proper position. The trial court then noted that in order to support Lytle's contention of a design defect, sufficient expert testimony had to be presented. That is, scientific testimony of a technical nature was required that had to be based upon scientific principles. Moreover, the trial court held that the causal link between the design defect and the injury that Lytle suffered also had to be established by scientific evidence.

The trial court went on to observe that Lytle failed to present sufficient evidence in accordance with Indiana Evidence Rule 702(b) to withstand...