Reed v. Tiffin Motor Homes, Inc., 81-2099

• Decision Date: 30 December 1982
• Docket Number: No. 81-2099,81-2099
• Citation: 697 F.2d 1192
• Parties: Christopher J. REED, John Christopher Reed, Dorothy Reed, Appellants, v. TIFFIN MOTOR HOMES, INC., Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

Page 1192

697 F.2d 1192

Christopher J. REED, John Christopher Reed, Dorothy Reed, Appellants, v. TIFFIN MOTOR HOMES, INC., Appellee.

No. 81-2099.

United States Court of Appeals Fourth Circuit.

Argued Sept. 13, 1982.

Decided Dec. 30, 1982.

John U. Bell, III, Columbia, S.C. (Nelson, Mullins, Grier & Scarborough, Columbia, S.C., on brief), for appellants.

Robert A. Patterson, Charleston, S.C. (Thomas J. Wills, IV, M. Dawes Cooke, Jr., Barnwell, Whaley, Stevenson & Patterson, Charleston, S.C., on brief), for appellee.

Before HAYNSWORTH, Senior Circuit Judge, and SPROUSE and CHAPMAN, Circuit Judges.

CHAPMAN, Circuit Judge:

This appeal is from a jury verdict against appellants Christopher J. Reed, John Christopher Reed and Dorothy Reed. Their three cases were consolidated and tried in the District Court for the District of South Carolina solely upon the theory of strict liability in tort. The jury returned a verdict for the appellee Tiffin Motor Homes, Inc. The court denied appellants' Motion for New Trial.

Appellants seek reversal of the judgment below on the grounds that: (1) the district court erred by admitting evidence regarding state of the art into a case sounding solely in strict tort liability; (2) the court's instruction to the jury was in error because it allowed the jury to consider state of the art and industry standards when deciding if the product was defective and unreasonably dangerous; (3) it was an abuse of discretion for the judge to admit into evidence photographs offered by the defendant and also to refuse to admit a photograph offered by plaintiffs; and (4) the district court was in error when it refused to allow cross examination of an expert witness as to the contents of a police accident report. For the reasons stated below, we affirm the district court.

I

In August of 1977, Christopher J. Reed leased from Ft. Myers Motor Homes one 1977 Allegro Motor Home which was designed, manufactured and assembled by Tiffin Motor Homes, Inc. (herein Tiffin), an Alabama corporation. The purpose for leasing the motor home was to allow Mr. Reed, his wife Dorothy, and son John Christopher, to travel round-trip from their home in Ft. Myers, Florida to West Virginia and Connecticut. On August 20, 1977, while returning to their home in Florida, the motor home in which they were traveling was struck in the rear by a Lincoln Continental. This collision occurred on interstate 95 near St. George, South Carolina. Upon impact the motor home was damaged and burst into flames. As a result of this accident, the appellants suffered personal injuries.

The appellants brought suit in the Charleston division of the District Court of South Carolina on June 6, 1979. The three complaints were each based upon three theories--negligent design and manufacture, breach of implied warranties and strict liability--and each sought actual and punitive damages. ¹ The cases were tried solely upon the theory of strict liability. Appellee's motion to strike punitive damages was denied.

During the trial, appellants offered certain evidence ² in an attempt to prove that the motor home was designed and manufactured with a defective and unreasonably dangerous fuel system. The appellants maintain they offered this evidence for the limited purposes of: qualifying an expert witness; showing the feasibility of alternate locations of the auxiliary tank; discrediting one of the defendant's expert witnesses; and establishing grounds for punitive damages. The appellee offered evidence consisting of testimony and brochures to show the state of the art, custom and industry standards concerning the location of the auxiliary gas tank. The purpose for offering this evidence was to show that the design was not defective or unreasonably dangerous, that it met reasonable consumer expectation and that the defendant exercised due care in selecting the location. The appellants made proper objection.

II

As this is a diversity case, the law of the state in which the tort occurred must be applied by the federal court. Erie R.R. Co. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64, 58 S.Ct. 817, 82 L.Ed. 1188 (1928). The primary issue is whether it is proper to admit into evidence, and then to charge the jury on, the state of the art as a defense in a strict liability case. It is important to note at the outset that this is a defect in design case, not defect in manufacturing. ³ Because the South Carolina Supreme Court has not passed on this issue, we must predict how it would decide the issue.

South Carolina adopted the law of strict liability in tort by enacting Sec. 402A of the Restatement (Second) of Torts (1965). S.C.Code Ann. Sec. 15-73-10 (1976). ⁴ Under the theory of strict liability, the exercise of due care by the defendant will not relieve him of liability. ⁵ See, e.g., Werner v. Upjohn Co., Inc., 628 F.2d 848, 857 (4th Cir.1980). Thus, the plaintiff need not prove that the defendant was negligent, only that the product was defective and unreasonably dangerous when it was placed in the stream of commerce. See, e.g., Welch v. Outboard Marine Corp., 481 F.2d 252 (5th Cir.1973). Because the plaintiff need not show negligence, the focus of the trier of fact is upon the product itself, not the conduct of the manufacturer. Singleton v. International Harvester Co., 685 F.2d 112, 114 (4th Cir.1981). This is because:

public policy demands that the burden of accidental injuries caused by products intended for consumption be placed upon those who market them, and be treated as a cost of production against which liability insurance can be obtained; and that the consumer of such products is entitled to the maximum protection at the hands of someone, and the proper persons to afford it are those who market the products.

Restatement (Second) Sec. 402A, Comment c, incorporated by reference into the South Carolina Code of Laws. S.C.Code Ann. Sec. 15-73-30 (1976).

In manufacturing defect cases courts have excluded evidence of the state of the art because the plaintiff need only show the product does not conform to the manufacturer's specifications to prove it is defective. Singleton, 685 F.2d at 115. When the issue is a defect in design, however, the jurisdictions are divided upon the issue of whether state of the art evidence is admissible. See, J. Beasley, Products Liability and the Unreasonably Dangerous, 393-410 (1981). Because the majority rule is that state of the art evidence is admissible in design defect cases, Singleton, 685 F.2d at 114-115; Bruce v. Martin-Marietta Corp., 544 F.2d 442 (10th Cir.1976); Raney v. Honeywell, Inc., 540 F.2d 932 (8th Cir.1976); Hoppe v. Midwest Conveyor Co., Inc., 485 F.2d 1196 (8th Cir.1973); Welch, 481 F.2d at 256-257; see also, J. Beasley at 406-407, and because the South Carolina Supreme Court has adopted a balancing test for use in design defect cases when determining if a product is unreasonably dangerous, Claytor v. General Motors Corp., S.C., 286 S.E.2d 129, 132 (1982), we hold that South Carolina would admit testimony on state of the art in design defect cases tried under the theory of strict liability.

Section 402A and the South Carolina courts require the plaintiff to show both that the product is defective and that it is "unreasonably dangerous to the consumer or user given the conditions and circumstances that foreseeably attend use of the product." Claytor, S.Ct., 286 S.E.2d at 131. The majority of courts have found in design defect cases, as opposed to manufacturing defect cases, that state of the art and industry standards are relevant to show both the reasonableness of the design, Raney, 540 F.2d at 937; Hoppe, 485 F.2d at 1202; Welch, 481 F.2d at 256, and that the product was dangerous beyond the expectations of the ordinary consumer. Bruce, 544 F.2d at 447. This is because "in a design defect case the standard of defectiveness under Sec. 402A, involving as it does the element of unreasonable danger, still requires the weighing of the utility of risks inherent in the design against the magnitude of the risk." Singleton, 685 F.2d at 115. In design cases, South Carolina has held that while any product can be made more safe, the fact, that it is not, does not automatically make the product unreasonably dangerous. Rather, "[i]n the final analysis, we have another of the law's balancing acts and numerous factors must be considered, including the usefulness and desirability of the product, the cost involved for added safety, the likelihood and potential seriousness of injury, and the obviousness of danger." Claytor, S.C., 286 S.E.2d at 132 (holding evidence insufficient for strict tort liability, therefore it follows implied warranty and negligence actions must fail).

This balancing approach finds it's roots in Comment i to Sec. 402A ⁶ where it is stated that "[t]he article sold must be dangerous to an extent beyond that which would be contemplated by the ordinary consumer who purchases it, with the ordinary knowledge common of the community as to its characteristics." ⁷ Therefore, the comment does require a determination of what consumers expect when they purchase a particular product.

We find that the state of the art and trade customs are relevant in helping the jury make a determination of whether the product is unreasonably dangerous when used in a manner expected by the ordinary consumer in the community. While only one element in that determination, it is a necessary aid to assist the trier of fact in determining the reasonableness of the manufacturers' design. Further, the South Carolina court has explicitly set forth the requirement that a product must be unreasonably dangerous to a consumer with the ordinary knowledge of the community and has held products not to be unreasonably dangerous if the design failed to provide a safety feature outside what that consumer might expect. Young v. Tidecraft, Inc., 270 S.C. 453, 471, 242 S.E.2d 671, 679-80 (1978).

Moreover, it is clear that South Carolina does balance the...