Richcreek v. General Motors Corp.

• Decision Date: 29 August 1995
• Docket Number: No. WD,WD
• Citation: 908 S.W.2d 772
• Parties: Prod.Liab.Rep. (CCH) P 14,329 Heather Day RICHCREEK et al., Appellants, v. GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION, et al., Respondents. 49371.
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

Page 772

908 S.W.2d 772

Prod.Liab.Rep. (CCH) P 14,329

Heather Day RICHCREEK et al., Appellants, v. GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION, et al., Respondents.

No. WD 49371.

Missouri Court of Appeals,

Western District.

Aug. 29, 1995.

Motion for Rehearing and/or Transfer to

Supreme Court Denied Oct. 3, 1995.

Application to Transfer Denied

Nov. 21, 1995.

John E. McKay, David C. Byerley, Kansas City, Evan A. Burkholder, McGuire, Woods, Battle & Boothe, Richmond, Va., for appellants.

James R. Jarrow, Stacy L. Cook, Baker Sterchi & Cowden, LLC, Kansas City, for respondents.

Before ULRICH, P.J., and LOWENSTEIN and ELLIS, JJ.

LOWENSTEIN, Judge.

Seventeen-year-old Heather Richcreek (Richcreek) was rendered a quadriplegic when the 1985 Corvette in which she was riding was struck by a truck whose driver was attempting to elude the police. Richcreek and another passenger allegedly were Richcreek appeals from a jury verdict for GM ¹. Although the jury awarded her damages in the amount of $10,000,000, and $203,876 to her mother, it assessed percentages of fault as follows: Plaintiff-appellant Heather Richcreek 20%; Defendant Edward Rouse, Jr. (the driver of the truck which struck the car in which Richcreek was a passenger) 80%; Defendant-respondent General Motors Corporation, the manufacturer of the car 0%.

in the passenger bucket seat, although the parties disputed Richcreek's exact position. Richcreek's case was centered in common law negligence and strict product liability against the defendant, General Motors (GM), the manufacturer of the Corvette, for a defectively designed and/or defectively manufactured passenger seat hinge pin. The pin, according to the petition, came loose and popped out of place during the accident, allowing Richcreek's side of the passenger seat-back to fall backwards, where it could not keep her upright in the passenger compartment.

The main thrust of plaintiff's many points on appeal is that the trial court erred in striking or excluding various forms of evidence (such as the car manufacturer's prior knowledge of safety problems and subsequent design changes to the seat hinge pin) that were advanced by the plaintiff to show a design defect of the seat hinge pin. Richcreek also sought punitive damages ² alleging GM knew for five years that Corvettes from 1983 to the last half of 1985 had seat hinges which would fall apart unless the design was changed by using a longer pin, or actually welding the pin in place. GM approved specifications for the hinge pins, and the seat was manufactured by Lear, while the Corvette was sold by GM.

THE FACTS

Richcreek was injured on September 1, 1990, when a full-size Ford pick-up truck driven by Rouse collided with a 1985 Chevrolet Corvette driven by Tony Scott. Rouse was eluding the police when he intentionally disregarded a stop sign and collided with the Corvette on its driver side at a 78 degree angle, causing it to spin off the road and into a fire hydrant. Both the Corvette and the pickup were traveling at approximately 33 mph.

The Corvette is a compact sports car equipped with two bucket seats, each designed for only one person (a driver and a passenger). At the time of the accident, however, the Corvette contained three people: driver Tony Scott, Heather Richcreek, and passenger Elizabeth Ormsby.

Scott was killed in the accident. Ormsby, who was sitting in the passenger seat of the Corvette next to the window, suffered only minor injuries. Richcreek, whose seating position at the time of the accident was disputed, ³ was severely injured and was rendered a The hinge pin in question is a safety component of the Corvette seat which is supposed to hold the occupant of the seat in the front passenger compartment. One of Richcreek's claims was that the seat hinge pin was not properly attached to the assembly by the "staking" method. This was in her claims for negligence and strict liability. "Staking" is accomplished by striking the end of the hinge pin with a 60 ton press. The impact from the press causes the end of the hinge pin to spew out in a 360 degree circle, creating a lip or rim of metal to hold the hinge pin to the seat back and bottom.

quadriplegic, due in part to the failure of a seat hinge pin.

Experts for both sides also examined the particular seat hinge pin at issue in the accident and testified with regard to the condition and effect of the seat hinge pin after the impact. Richcreek's expert testified that the seat hinge pin was not "staked" (attached) properly. He further testified that the seat hinge pin was merely "kissed" instead of being fully "staked", and that this defective staking of the seat hinge pin allowed the passenger seat that Richcreek was seated in to open up and twist after the impact of the Corvette with the fire hydrant, thereby allowing Richcreek's body to eject into the rear of the car. Experts for GM testified that the physical evidence showed that the seat hinge pin was staked properly, and that the seat hinge pin did not pop out or fail during or after the Corvette's impact with the pickup truck. They testified further that even assuming that the seat hinge pin was not staked properly, and even assuming Richcreek was sharing the passenger seat, the seat hinge pin still did not have anything to do with Richcreek's spinal injury because the seat-back could not move backwards enough to allow Richcreek to be ejected into the back of the Corvette because the passenger seat of the Corvette is in such a tight "cockpit" area, much like a jet fighter plane.

Richcreek also sought recovery under strict product liability for a design defect of the hinge pin. Richcreek claimed that GM's specifications for the seat hinge pin were defective because the three-millimeter-long hinge pin was not long enough to allow proper staking, and that the only way the "too short" pin could have been made safe was by welding the pin in place.

RICHCREEK'S THEORY

Richcreek's theory at trial was that she and Ormsby were sharing the passenger seat of the Corvette at the time of the accident (with Richcreek on the left part of the passenger seat next to the console which separated the driver and passenger seats, and Ormsby on the right part of the passenger seat next to the window). Upon impact with the pick-up truck, the passengers of the Corvette were forced toward the front-left side of the Corvette. Upon the next impact with the fire hydrant, Richcreek was ejected into the back part of the Corvette because the passenger seat hinge pin on the "inboard" left side where she was sitting popped out of place and failed to keep her in place. Richcreek struck her head near the rear of the car, receiving paralyzing injuries. Her pleading was for negligent manufacturing and design and for a strict products liability under manufacturing and design defects against GM. Her count against Lear was for a strict products liability cause for a manufacturing defect.

GM'S THEORY

GM's theory at trial was that Richcreek was not seated in, or even sharing, the passenger seat, but rather that she was seated in the back of the Corvette in the "booty" or cargo area. GM also disputed Richcreek's contention that the passenger seat's "inboard" hinge pin popped out at impact and failed. GM also contends that since Richcreek was seated in the back area of the Corvette, her injuries could not possibly have been caused by the passenger seat hinge pin, regardless of whether it was defective or not, since the pin is designed to keep the passenger in the front of the Corvette and Richcreek was already positioned in the back of the Corvette at the time of the accident. GM's final defense was that the raised cargo

area came to within two inches of the seatback, so it could not have fallen backwards significantly.

OVERVIEW OF THE POINTS ON APPEAL--THE EVIDENTIARY RULINGS:

Richcreek's points on appeal are based on certain evidentiary rulings made by the trial court. The trial court initially allowed certain testimony and documents in evidence, then later ordered them stricken. Still other evidence was excluded when offered.

The evidentiary rulings at issue came after testimony by a Richcreek expert that the seat's hinge pin was improperly manufactured because it was not staked according to GM's design specifications. Therefore, the trial court reasoned, Richcreek's own evidence went to prove injury by defective manufacturing, not improper design. Accordingly, the trial court reasoned that any evidence of subsequent design change to the hinge pin was irrelevant.

It was ruled plaintiff's prior evidence of design should be stricken. This ruling was not made known to the jury. No withdrawal instruction was given. Richcreek was not allowed to refer to this evidence (to be outlined later under the caption STRICKEN) to the jury in closing. Other evidence as to design of the seat and the hinge pin, such as corrections prior to the accident and safety measures, lengthening of the pin and welding, was never introduced.

CORRECTNESS OF THE EFFECT ON THE OUTCOME:

The case of Richcreek against GM has taken a confusing course both at trial and here. The difference between a theory of design and manufacturing defect under strict liability is not clear at all times, and in all factual alignments. It must also be remembered that this is not an appeal on the jury's ability to apportion fault to GM under the verdict directors or the instructions. Following her petition, the court submitted Richcreek's tendered instructions--MAI 25.04 for strict liability for design defect, and MAI 25.09 for negligent design, and both modified MAI 37.01 to allow for comparative fault. The law applicable here, as well as the particular facts here, have led to the present evidentiary question.

In a nutshell, the plaintiff went against GM on strict liability in tort for design and manufacturing defect, and for common law negligence. This case boils down to whether, in this context, the evidentiary rulings were...