Raimbeault v. Takeuchi Mfg.(US), Ltd.

• Decision Date: 23 May 2001
• Citation: 772 A.2d 1056
• Parties: Raimbeault v. Takeuchi Manufacturing (U.S.), Ltd.
• Court: Rhode Island Supreme Court

772 A.2d 1056

Raimbeault v. Takeuchi Manufacturing (U.S.), Ltd.

Supreme Court of Rhode Island.

May 23, 2001.

Present: WILLIAMS, C.J., LEDERBERG, FLANDERS, and GOLDBERG, JJ.

OPINION

PER CURIAM.

This case came before the Court for oral argument on April 10, 2001, pursuant to an order that directed the parties to appear in order to show cause why the issues raised by this appeal should be not be summarily decided. After hearing the arguments of counsel and examining the memoranda filed by the parties, we are of the opinion that cause has not been shown and that the issues raised by this appeal should be decided at this time. The facts insofar as pertinent to this appeal are as follows.

Ronald Raimbeault (Raimbeault) owned a company that was in the business of renting construction equipment. On occasion, Raimbeault would demonstrate the use of the equipment to customers. On January 14, 1991, shortly after dusk, Raimbeault gave a demonstration of a track-driven Takeuchi compact excavator, model TB 800, to a customer, Frederick Bassi (Bassi). The excavator has a "cab" capable of rotating 360 degrees, independent of the excavator's track-drive system. On the particular evening involved herein, the ground was covered with snow and ice. To demonstrate the reach of the excavator's backhoe, Raimbeault backed the excavator to the edge of an embankment. He then rotated the cab several times and demonstrated the backhoe. The demonstration lasted approximately fifteen minutes.

At the conclusion of the demonstration, Raimbeault failed to recognize that he had rotated the cab only 180 degrees. As a result, the cab faced the back of the excavator and toward the embankment. The front of the excavator had an attached dozer blade. However, the excavator's lever controls were oriented with the front of the excavator. Thus, if one pulled the levers backward, the excavator would move in the direction opposite from the side of the dozer blade. Not realizing that the cab was facing the opposite direction from the front blade side of the excavator, Raimbeault pulled backward on the control levers, intending to back away from the embankment. Instead, the excavator lurched toward the embankment. The excavator became unstable on the embankment and began to skid on the ice. At that time, Raimbeault jumped from the excavator down to the bottom of the embankment. Even though releasing the levers would normally have caused the excavator to stop moving, the excavator apparently lost stability on the embankment, causing it to fall. The excavator slid down the embankment. A portion of the excavator landed on Raimbeault's foot. Raimbeault suffered back, shoulder, head, and neck injuries.

On January 13, 1994, Raimbeault, his wife, Ida Raimbeault, and his son, Brian Raimbeault (hereinafter collectively referred to as plaintiffs), filed a products liability and negligence action (the negligence action was predicated on negligent design and failure to warn) against Takeuchi Manufacturing (U.S.), Ltd., Takeuchi America Manufacturing, Ltd., Takeuchi Manufacturing Co., Ltd., and John doe, alias (hereinafter collectively referred to as defendants).¹ The plaintiffs alleged that the excavator lacked adequate safeguards and warnings. A trial was held in the Superior Court. At trial, Raimbeault testified about the events of the accident. He testified that he had mistakenly pressed the levers backward and that he had not realized that he had been disoriented after having previously rotated the cab several times. Raimbeault also testified that he had not noted that the dozer blade was not in front of him. He admitted that he had told an investigator that "the accident was caused solely by my losing control of [the excavator] due to the icy conditions."

Next, Bassi testified. He corroborated the events of the accident. Doctor Wallace Gonsalves (Dr. Gonsalves) and Richard Otrando (Otrando) also testified at trial. Doctor Gonsales testified about the extent and treatment of Raimbeault's injuries. Otrando, the accountant for Raimbeault's business, testified about Raimbeault's lost salary and lost benefits resulting from the accident.

Marc Richman (Richman), a retired professor from Brown University, who had taught in the engineering department, testified as plaintiffs' expert witness. Richman held a doctor of science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was also an instructor in the metallurgy department. He testified that he had experience in the maintenance of track equipment during his employment with the United States Army. Richman also testified that he had operated a Takeuchi TB 800 excavator in 1998. At that time, he noticed that the excavator had decals detailing the operations of the levers and the movement of the backhoe. While at Brown University, Richman had taught courses dealing with warnings on the operation of equipment. He testified that the warnings on the Takeuchi TB 800 did not state clearly what would happen if an operator turned the cab to face the rear and then pulled the levers backward. Richman concluded that the design of the excavator was flawed because it did not take into account a momentary lapse in memory by the operator about which direction he was facing. Richman offered design improvement suggestions, such as a warning system that would light up and force the operator to check the direction or a compass-like device with an arrow perpetually pointing to the dozer blade. He further testified that the instruction manual was not clear about the fact that forward meant in the direction of the dozer blade.

After Richman finished testifying, the trial justice decided to exclude his testimony. To support his decision, the trial justice noted that Richman did not have any experience with track-driven machinery. He further noted that Richman had no experience in designing cabs for track-driven machinery and that he had limited experience with warnings and instructions in general. The trial justice concluded that Richman's opinions were the product of the instant litigation and not the result of scientific research or experimentation. Consequently, he found that Richman lacked the skills to qualify as an expert and that his opinions were pure speculation. Additionally, the trial justice found that the proximate cause of Raimbeault's injuries was Raimbeault's own negligence in operating the excavator.

The defendants then moved for a judgment as a matter of law. They argued that because of the exclusion of Richman's testimony, plaintiffs had failed to put forth any competent evidence on negligent design or defect. The trial justice granted defendant's motion. He found that plaintiffs had not presented any evidence on the standard of care for excavator design. With regard to the products liability action, the trial justice found that plaintiffs did not demonstrate that Raimbeault had received the excavator in substantially the same conditions as it was when it left the hands of the manufacturer. He further noted that plaintiffs were required to produce evidence that the excavator was defective and unreasonably dangerous and that they had failed to do so. In addition, the trial justice ruled that there was no evidence to indicate that a failure to provide a warning had caused the accident. Moreover, he found that Raimbeault had assumed the risk of injury by moving the excavator very close to the embankment and that his mistake in becoming disoriented was the proximate cause of his accident. Final judgment in favor of defendants was entered on January 26, 1999. The plaintiffs timely appealed.

To support their appeal, plaintiffs argued that the trial justice erred in excluding Richman's testimony. In addition, they argued that the trial justice erred in granting defendants' motion for judgment as a matter of law and that he erred in finding that Raimbeault had assumed the risk. The plaintiffs assert that since the expert testimony of Richman sufficiently addressed each of the above issues, the case could have been decided by the jury. We address each of plaintiffs' claim seriatim.

I Expert Testimony

Rule 702 of the Federal Rules of Evidence governs testimony by experts in the federal courts. Rule 702 provides as follows "If scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, may testify thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise."

In Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 589, 113 S.Ct. 2786, 2795, 125 L.Ed.2d 469, 480 (1993), the United States Supreme Court held that, under the Federal Rules of Evidence, a trial justice had to "ensure that any and all scientific testimony or evidence admitted [was] not only relevant, but [also] reliable." The Supreme Court found that Rule 702 "clearly contemplate[d] some degree of regulation of the subjects and theories about which an expert [could] testify." Id. In essence, a trial justice must ensure that "an expert's testimony both rest[ed] on a reliable foundation and [was] relevant to the task at hand." Id. at 597, 113 S.Ct. at 2799, 125 L.Ed.2d at 485. Thus, Daubert created an obligation on the part of trial justices to act as "gatekeepers:" their role is to insure that proposed experts are qualified and that all scientific testimony is not only relevant, but also reliable. See id. at 589-97, 113 S.Ct. at 2794-99, 125 L.Ed.2d at 480-85.

This Court has recognized the applicability of Daubert to situations in which scientific testimony is proposed in Rhode Island state courts (that is, where Rule 702 of the Rhode Island Rules of Evidence comes into play). See DiPetrillo v. Dow Chemical Co., 729 A.2d 677 (R.I. 1999)

; Gallucci v. Humbyrd, 709 A.2d 1059 (R.I.1998); State v. Quattrocchi, 681 A.2d 879 (R.I.199^); State v. Morel, 676 A.2d 1347 (R.I.1996); In re...