SCRIPA v. CHRYSLER CORPORATION, 41626-0-I

• Decision Date: 05 April 1999
• Docket Number: No. 41626-0-I,41626-0-I
• Parties: PHILLIP A. SCRIPA, CHRISTINE SCRIPA, ANDREA SCRIPA; AND THE ESTATE OF CONNOR SCRIPA, APPELLANTS, v. CHRYSLER CORPORATION, A DELAWARE CORPORATION, RESPONDENTS.
• Court: Washington Court of Appeals

[1]
[2]	PHILLIP A. SCRIPA, CHRISTINE SCRIPA, ANDREA SCRIPA; AND THE ESTATE OF CONNOR SCRIPA, APPELLANTS,; v.; CHRYSLER CORPORATION, A DELAWARE CORPORATION, RESPONDENTS.
[3]	No. 41626-0-I
[4]	Washington Court of Appeals
[5]	April 05, 1999
[6]	Counsel: Counsel for Appellant(s) Donald L. Logerwell Attorney At Law 2nd & Seneca Bldg. 18 Fl 1191 Second Avenue Seattle, WA 98101-2933 Bruce A. McDermott Garvey Schubert & Barer 2nd & Seneca Bldg. 18 Fl 1191 Second Avenue Seattle, WA 98101-2939 Counsel for Respondent(s) Thomas J. Collins Merrick Hofstedt & Lindsey 710 9th Ave Seattle, WA 98104-2017 W. B. Wold Sedgwick Detert Moran & Arnold One Embarcadero Center 16th Floor San Francisco, CA 94111-3765 Kirk C. Jenkins Sedgwick Detert Moran & Arnold One Embarcadero Center 16th Floor San Francisco, CA 94111-3765
[7]	The opinion of the court was delivered by: Cox, J.
[8]	Source of Appeal: Appeal from Superior Court of King County Docket No: 95-2-29223-2 Judgement or order under review Date filed: 10/14/1997 Judge signing: Hon. James W. Bates Jr
[9]	Judges: Authored by Ronald E. Cox Concurring: Marlin J Appelwick Ann L. Ellington
[10]	UNPUBLISHED
[11]	Nineteen-month-old Connor Scripa died after he was hit by a Chrysler minivan in a tragic accident that occurred at his family's campsite at Moran State Park. His parents and his estate commenced this wrongful death action against Chrysler. They appeal from an adverse jury verdict. Because the trial court did not abuse its discretion by admitting the lay opinion testimony of Ray Rowell and because the clear misconduct of Chrysler's trial counsel did not have a substantial likelihood of affecting the jury verdict, we affirm.
[12]	A Chrysler minivan plunged over an embankment from an adjoining campsite at Moran State Park and killed toddler Connor Scripa as he was standing at a picnic table in his family's campsite. The minivan, owned and driven by Scott Rich, experienced brake failure that prevented Rich from stopping before rolling down the embankment that separated his family's campsite from the Scripas' campsite.
[13]	Just before the accident, Rich and his family had driven down Mt. Constitution. As Rich approached the entrance to the campground, he noticed a loss in braking power. When he pulled into his campsite, his brakes did not work at all. Rich explained this brake failure to the police who arrived at the scene shortly after the accident. Subsequently, the Washington State Patrol's Major Accident Investigation Team (MAIT) extensively tested the van and concluded that its brakes had failed. MAIT concluded that the long, steep drive down Mt. Constitution, coupled with badly contaminated brake fluid, had caused the brake fluid to boil. That condition caused the brake failure.
[14]	The Scripas' theory at trial was that Chrysler's failure both to warn vehicle owners about the dangers of contaminated brake fluid and to recommend periodic fluid changes constitutes a breach of its duty to warn. They also alleged violations of the Washington Products Liability Act and the tort of outrage.
[15]	After a month-long trial, the jury returned a verdict for Chrysler. The trial court entered Judgement on that verdict, and the Scripas appeal.
[16]	I. Evidentiary Ruling
[17]	The Scripas contend that the testimony of Ray Rowell, a Chrysler employee, was inadmissible hearsay because it was based on documents that were neither authenticated nor offered into evidence. We disagree.
[18]	We review a trial court's decision to admit or reject evidence for abuse of discretion.*fn1 A trial court abuses its discretion when its determination is manifestly unreasonable or based on untenable grounds or reasons.*fn2
[19]	Rowell, a lay witness, was scheduled to testify for Chrysler. The Scripas objected to his testimony, arguing that it would be inadmissible hearsay. After considering the arguments of both sides, the court overruled the objection, but specifically directed that the Scripas' counsel have an opportunity to examine the documents and to interview Rowell before he testified.
[20]	The point of Rowell's testimony was to establish the statistical improbability that the brake fluid in Rich's van had boiled. Rowell testified that several million Chrysler minivans have been or are currently in circulation, and that, collectively, those vans have been driven hundreds of billions of miles. He also testified that of all those vans and for all those miles driven, there had never been, prior to the Scripas' case, any allegation of brake fluid boil. Chrysler relied on these statistics to demonstrate the reasonableness of its decision neither to warn of the dangers of brake fluid boil nor to recommend periodic brake fluid changes.
[21]	Rowell calculated the "millions of vehicles, billions of miles" figures by multiplying the number of minivans in service during the relevant time period by the average number of miles a vehicle is driven in a year. The first statistic, the number of minivans in service, was supplied to Rowell by R. L. Polk, a private company that gathers motor vehicle registration data. The United States Department of

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