Deaton v. Robison

878 N.E.2d 499, 2007 Ind. App. LEXIS 2996, 2007 WL 4563656
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 31, 2007
Docket36A04-0702-CV-102
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 878 N.E.2d 499 (Deaton v. Robison) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Deaton v. Robison, 878 N.E.2d 499, 2007 Ind. App. LEXIS 2996, 2007 WL 4563656 (Ind. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

OPINION

NAJAM, Judge.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

James Deaton (“Deaton”) and Lisa Dea-ton (collectively “the Deatons”) appeal from the trial court’s judgment in favor of Knight Rifles, Inc. (“Knight”) on the Dea-tons’ complaint alleging negligence. The Deatons present the following issues for our review:

1. Whether the trial court erred when it entered judgment on the evidence on the issue of inadequate warnings.
2. Whether the trial court abused its discretion when it excluded from evidence an owner’s manual and instructional video associated with Knight’s product.

We affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Justin Robison owned a black powder rifle, model MK-95, manufactured by Knight. On December 1, 2002, Robison and Deaton were in Robison’s garage preparing to go deer hunting when Robison realized that he had left his rifle loaded from the previous day’s hunt. Acknowledging the danger posed by transporting a loaded rifle, Robison said to Deaton, “I’ve got to unload this before I kill somebody.” Appellee’s App. at 3. Robison tried to pull the spring-loaded bolt back to unload the rifle when the bolt slipped and struck the primer, causing the rifle to fire. The rifle was aimed at Deaton, and he sustained a shot to his leg. Robison’s rifle was equipped with two safeties. Only one safety, the trigger safety, was engaged at the time of the shooting. The rifle would not have fired at all had both safeties been engaged.

*501 The Deatons filed a complaint alleging that Robison was negligent in shooting Deaton and that Knight was negligent in failing to adequately warn of the dangers associated with the MK-95. During trial, Knight moved for judgment on the evidence on the issue of inadequate warnings, which the trial court granted. In addition, the trial court sustained Knight’s objection to the admission into evidence of a manual and instructional video associated with Ro-bison’s rifle. At the conclusion of trial, the jury found Robison 100% at fault in causing Deaton’s injuries and awarded damages to the Deatons in the amount of $1,025,000. This appeal ensued.

DISCUSSION AND DECISION

Issue One: Judgment on the Evidence

The Deatons first contend that the trial court erred when it entered judgment on the evidence in favor of Knight on the issue of inadequate warnings associated with the MK-95. Our standard of review is well settled:

When reviewing the trial court’s [ruling on] a motion for judgment on the evidence, we will consider only the evidence most favorable to the nonmovant along with all reasonable inferences to be drawn therefrom. We must determine whether there was evidence of probative value supporting each element which would justify submission of the claim to the jury. If there is any probative evidence or reasonable inference to be drawn from the evidence or if reasonable people would differ as to the result, judgment on the evidence is properly denied. A motion for judgment on the evidence should be granted only in those cases where the evidence is not conflicting and susceptible to one inference, supporting judgment for the movant.

Thus, our role on review is no different from that of the trial court. Lumbermens Mut. Cas. Co. v. Combs, 873 N.E.2d 692, 712-13 (Ind.Ct.App.2007) (quoting CSX Transp., Inc. v. Kirby, 687 N.E.2d 611, 615-16 (Ind.Ct.App.1997)).

This case falls within the provisions of the Indiana Products Liability Act (“the Act”). Under the Act, a plaintiff must prove that: (1) the product was defective and unreasonably dangerous; (2) the defective condition existed at the time the product left the defendant’s control; and (3) the defective condition was the proximate cause of the plaintiffs injuries. Coffman v. PSI Energy, Inc., 815 N.E.2d 522, 527 (Ind.Ct.App.2004), trans. denied. A product may be defective because of a failure to warn of the dangers inherent in the product’s use, and a duty to warn consists of two duties: (1) to provide adequate instructions for safe use; and (2) to provide a warning as to dangers inherent in improper use. Id. “Unreasonably dangerous,” for purposes of the Act, refers to any situation in which the use of a product exposes the user or consumer to a risk of physical harm to an extent beyond that contemplated by the ordinary consumer who purchases the product with the ordinary knowledge about the product’s characteristics common to the community of consumers. Ind.Code § 34-6-2-146.

Our Supreme Court has adopted Section 388 of the Restatement (Second) of Torts, which provides, in relevant part:

One who supplies directly or through a third person a chattel for another to use is subject to liability to those whom the supplier should expect to use the chattel with the consent of the other or to be endangered by its probable use, for physical harm caused by the use of the chattel in the manner for which and by a person for whose use it is supplied, if the supplier
*502 (a) knows or has reason to know that the chattel is or is likely to be dangerous for the use for which it is supplied, and
(b) has no reason to believe that those for whose use the chattel is supplied will realize its dangerous condition, and
(c) fails to exercise reasonable care to inform them of its dangerous condition or of the facts which make it likely to be dangerous.

(Emphasis added).

At the close of the Deatons’ case at trial, Knight moved for judgment on the evidence, asserting in relevant part as follows:

Then there’s also an allegation that there were inadequate warnings. Well the case law holds that the same thing is true in the warning case as whether it’s design, inadequate instruction, or lack of warning. It still must be shown to be unreasonably dangerous. The, let’s examine the evidence a little bit in that regard. The manual has been testified [sic], albeit not admitted into evidence, and Mr. Martin has given opinions about the inadequacy of the warnings and one of them was that they gave two opinions. One that the manual was inadequate because it failed to warn the user not to let the firing pin rest against a live primer. The second was it didn’t tell you, I believe, it didn’t tell you how to unload the rifle. Well that’s irrelevant because this isn’t a case ... about Mr. Robison not knowing and appreciating how to unload the rifle. He used it for years. He also testified that “now you were of course aware that if it slipped when you were pulling it back without the safety, there was a risk of it firing. Correct? Yeah, yeah there’s always a risk.” So what do we have? We have Mr. Robison knowing how to unload it. He’d done it all that time.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
878 N.E.2d 499, 2007 Ind. App. LEXIS 2996, 2007 WL 4563656, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/deaton-v-robison-indctapp-2007.