Clark v. Brass Eagle, Inc.

866 So. 2d 456, 2004 Miss. LEXIS 219, 2004 WL 351794
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 26, 2004
Docket2003-CA-00369-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 866 So. 2d 456 (Clark v. Brass Eagle, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Clark v. Brass Eagle, Inc., 866 So. 2d 456, 2004 Miss. LEXIS 219, 2004 WL 351794 (Mich. 2004).

Opinion

866 So.2d 456 (2004)

John M. CLARK
v.
BRASS EAGLE, INC.

No. 2003-CA-00369-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

February 26, 2004.

Dana J. Swan, Clarksdale, attorney for appellant.

Arnulfo Ursua Luciano, Gerald H. Jacks, attorneys for appellee.

Before PITTMAN, C.J., EASLEY and DICKINSON, JJ.

*457 EASLEY, Justice, for the Court.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 1. John M. Clark (Clark) filed this products liability action in the Circuit Court of Coahoma County, Mississippi, against Brass Eagle, Inc. (Brass Eagle) and Chris Rico (Rico). The suit arose out of an incident which occurred on or about January 21, 1999, when Rico aimed a paintball gun manufactured by Brass Eagle at Clark shooting him while Clark rode past Rico in his car. The suit sought compensatory and punitive damages alleging that the Brass Eagle Talon paintball gun was defectively designed by Brass Eagle and contained inadequate warnings. The trial court granted Brass Eagle's motion for summary judgment finding the paintball gun did not malfunction and performed exactly as Clark and Rico expected. The trial court also determined that Clark and Rico understood and appreciated the inherit danger of using paintball guns without protective eyewear. Finding no genuine issues of material fact, the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of Brass Eagle and dismissed Brass Eagle from the case with full prejudice on December 19, 2002.[1]

FACTS

¶ 2. Clark testified in his deposition that he purchased a paintball gun from a pawnshop approximately one to two weeks prior to the incident on January 21, 1999.[2] Clark had practiced with the gun in his backyard and knew how to screw in the cartridge, pump the gun and use its safety and trigger. Clark hunted and had taken a course in hunter safety education. Clark had seen the paintball protective eye masks at Wal-Mart when he purchased his cartridges and paintballs and knew the masks were for some sort of protection.

¶ 3. Clark stated that he first learned about paintball when everybody else did and when everybody else was getting them. He bought the same kind that Rico used to injure him. Clark did not remember seeing any writing on the side of the paintball gun before the incident, but he stated he guessed that there was warnings on the side of the gun. Clark purchased the paintballs and the CO2 cartridges from Wal-Mart. He did not read any warnings on any of the packages of the paintballs or on the CO2 cartridges he purchased.[3] He bought his gun because everyone else had one. The only thing that he had heard that people did with the guns was shoot at cars. The game consisted of riding around and shooting at cars to mark them with the paintball guns. The object of the game was to shoot at the car and not to shoot at open windows. No one Clark was shooting at was wearing the protective masks. Clark understood and appreciated the danger of shooting at people as is evident in his statement that it was "common sense" not to shoot anyone in the face with the paintball gun.

¶ 4. Clark had seen protective masks for sale at Wal-Mart after he had purchased the gun. Clark testified that before he bought his paintball gun he had seen other people drive by shooting at other vehicles. Clark then decided to purchase one. Clark stated that they only shot paint balls at other vehicles that might have paintball guns. He testified that generally he had *458 knowledge of the other guys that had paintball guns. Clark stated that his parents knew he had the paintball gun. In fact, Clark told his parents that he used his paintball gun to shoot at his friends' cars.

¶ 5. Clark stated that he did not shoot at another person because he did not want to get shot back.[4] According to Clark, "I figured if I shot somebody, they were going to shoot me back." "If you shoot somebody, they would shoot you back, that's pretty much how it went." On January 21, 1999, Clark and his friends were riding around Clarksdale carrying two paintball guns in the vehicle with them. Clark was driving and had his paintball gun underneath his driver's seat.

¶ 6. Rico testified in his deposition that on same night he and his friends were also riding around Clarksdale with two paintball guns in their vehicle. Rico also knew that the protective masks were sold by Brass Eagle and that the masks were for eye protection. Rico testified that he had purchased a Brass Eagle paintball gun the day of the incident for himself. In fact, Rico testified that a friend of Beth Burnham, who is a friend of Rico's, purchased the paintball gun Rico borrowed that night and used to shoot Clark. Rico's dad purchased his paintball gun because he was not 18 and could not purchase it himself. He had not read the warning on the package on his paintball gun. Rico stated that he was sure he looked at the warnings or instructions on the side of the gun, but he did not "study" them. Rico further stated that he did not read any warnings in the manual, but he was sure that he saw the manual because it was "right there."

¶ 7. According to Rico, "paint ball wars" were played by several people in each car riding by and shooting paintballs at the other's moving or parked car. Rico also stated that his paintball gun never malfunctioned, and it operated properly. Rico had also taken hunter safety education classes and was knowledgeable about how the paintball gun operated. Rico knew it was dangerous to shoot someone in the eye with the paintball gun and knew that there were protective masks available to protect the eyes and face from a paintball injury.

¶ 8. According to Rico, at some point in the evening while he was parked at an area on West Second Street, Clark's vehicle pulled into the parking lot, and a passenger in Clark's vehicle shot a paintball hitting Rico's vehicle.[5] In turn, Rico shot his paintball gun several times at Clark's vehicle. Clark testified that all he remembered about the incident was being hit in the eye. He did not recall anyone shooting at Rico's car. When he got home, he was rushed to the emergency room where he had surgery. Rico testified that he was "pretty sure" he and Clark had shot at each other earlier the night of the incident. Rico stated that he and Clark were acquaintances and not enemies. Rico testified that he never intended to shoot Clark, but to shoot the outside of the vehicle. However, Rico stated that he had in the past been shot through the car window in the arm. Clark testified that no one had shot at his car that evening before the incident in question.

¶ 9. In his deposition, Michael Small (Small), a retired Brass Eagle manufacturing engineer, testified that Brass Eagle Talon paintball gun was designed as an entry level paintball marker/gun generally *459 used for target shooting and pump tournament play.[6] The paintball gun is used primarily for playing the sport of paintball. Small knew of no hazards associated with the Brass Eagle Talon paintball gun when used as it is designed and intended to be used. Small testified that nothing he saw or read indicated there was any manufacturing defect in this particular model of paintball gun.[7]

¶ 10. Besides the depositions of Clark, Rico and Small, Brass Eagle also attached to its memorandum brief in support of its motion for summary judgment a copy of the safety warning information, operating instructions and consumer notice, that comes with the Talon paintball gun. The warning stated on the front page of the owner's manual:

WARNING: This is not a toy. Misuse may cause serious injury or death.

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Bluebook (online)
866 So. 2d 456, 2004 Miss. LEXIS 219, 2004 WL 351794, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/clark-v-brass-eagle-inc-miss-2004.