Poole v. Ford Motor Co.

17 V.I. 354, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8921
CourtDistrict Court, Virgin Islands
DecidedMarch 26, 1980
DocketCivil No. 77/160; Civil No. 77/161
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 17 V.I. 354 (Poole v. Ford Motor Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, Virgin Islands primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Poole v. Ford Motor Co., 17 V.I. 354, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8921 (vid 1980).

Opinion

YOUNG, District Judge

MEMORANDUM OPINION WITH ATTACHED ORDER

This matter comes before the Court upon the motion of plaintiffs Poole and Dore for a new trial. For the reasons set forth herein the motion will be denied.

BACKGROUND

This action arose out of an automobile accident. The plaintiffs, Lester Poole, III, and Janice Dore, were passengers in a Ford Maverick. Seven other persons occupied the car with plaintiffs at the time of the accident. The plaintiffs were injured when the Maverick left the roadway and eventually hit a telephone pole. Plaintiffs instituted this action against defendant Ford Motor Company based upon theories of negligence and strict products liability. The action was tried to a jury which rendered a verdict in favor of defendant Ford Motor Company.

[357]*357I.

In support of the instant motion plaintiffs assert inter alia that the Court’s instructions were erroneous. More particularly, plaintiffs assert that the Court’s definition of defect was:

(1) not in accord with the Restatement Second of Torts;

(2) insufficient to provide a workable definition of defect;

(3) insufficient in failing to define defect in terms of the expectation of the user; and

(4) insufficient in that the term “unreasonably dangerous” was not defined in terms of the ordinary expectation of the users.

The purpose of jury instructions is to adequately inform the jury of the guiding legal principles and to adequately submit the issues to the jury. Ayoub v. Spencer, 550 F.2d 164 (3rd Cir.), cert. denied, 432 U.S 907 (1977); Fabian v. E. W. Bliss Co., 582 F.2d 1257 (10th Cir. 1978). A party has no vested interest in any particular form of instructions; the language of the charge is for the trial court to determine. Shaw v. Lauritzen, 428 F.2d 247 (3rd Cir. 1970). The Court need not use any particular form of words so long as the charge as a whole conveys to the jury a clear and correct understanding of the applicable law. Andry v. Farrell Lines, Inc., 478 F.2d 758 (5th Cir. 1973), and the manner in which the law is to be applied to the facts as the jury finds them. Zeigler v. Seaboard Coast Line R. Co., 437 F.2d 80 (5th Cir. 1952).

The Court’s definition of defect, contrary to the assertion of plaintiffs, comports with the Restatement in that the jury was directed to determine whether the product was defective by considering whether it was unreasonably dangerous to the user. The Second Restatement of Torts, Sec. 402A, provides:

One who sells any product in a defective condition unreasonably dangerous to the user or consumer or to his property is subject to liability for physical harm thereby caused to the ultimate user or consumer or to his property if. ..

Clearly there is no discrepancy between the Court’s instructions and the conditions of liability as set out in Sec. 402A. The Court further refined its definition of defect by instructing that the danger is unreasonable if the injury occurs while the product is being used in its intended use or in a reasonably foreseeable use.

Plaintiffs assert that “unreasonably dangerous” should have been, but was not defined in the terms of the ordinary expectation of the use. The assertion ignores the fact that reference to “intended [358]*358use” is essentially a consumer expectation test. C. A. Hoover and Son v. O. M. Franklin Serum Company, 444 S.W.2d 596 (Tex. 1969). Thus, it is apparent that the Court’s instruction provided a workable definition of defect, incorporating consumer expectation as part of the test for product defectiveness. The instruction provided the jury with sufficient guidance to enable it to apply the law to its factual findings.

II.

Plaintiffs also assert that the Court erred by failing to define “adequate warning” in terms of the methodology of rendering and the contents of the warning. A warning may be inadequate due to either the contents or the manner in which the warning is given. However, plaintiff cites no authority for the proposition that the jury’s attention must be specifically directed to these components of adequacy. Instructions are to be considered as a whole and construed in light of what the ordinary person would understand them to mean. Dreckman v. Flores, 331 F.2d 221 (7th Cir. 1964); Government Employee Insurance Co. v. Davis, 266 F.2d 760, 765 (5th Cir. 1959).

The term adequate is a term of common meaning within the understanding of the jury such that they need not be informed of those basic elements underlying an assessment of the adequacy of a warning. If there was any evidence as to the inadequacy of either “the methodology of rendering” or the contents of a warning, a jury, knowing of its duty to analyze the warning would naturally consider both elements. It is untenable to assert that a jury might find a warning to be adequate based upon the content alone where there was evidence as to the method of rendering the warning.

III.

Plaintiffs further assert that the Court erred in failing to instruct that defendant has the burden of proof regarding the affirmative defense of product misuse.

The Court instructed the jury that Ford claimed plaintiffs had misused the automobile by remaining in the car when it was overloaded. The Court’s characterization of this affirmative defense as contributory negligence rather than misuse is of no significance since the label attached to the factual claim could hardly affect the jury’s determination.

Furthermore, the Court correctly instructed that plaintiffs had the burden of proving “normal use.” Khoder v. AMF, Inc., 539 [359]*359F.2d 1078, 1079 (5th Cir. 1976). See also Huddell v. Levin, 537 F.2d 726, 734 (3rd Cir. 1976). To have given that instruction coupled with an instruction labelling Ford’s affirmative defense “misuse” could only have confused the jury as to who had the burden of proving that the product was being properly used.

IV.

Plaintiffs also contend that the Court erred in refusing to instruct regarding intervening cause and that defendants would have the burden of proving the driver’s negligence was an intervening cause if Ford was to be exonerated.

No request for this instruction was made, nor was there any objection to the failure to give a requested instruction regarding intervening cause. Thus, in accordance with F. R. Civ. P. 51 plaintiff cannot now complain of any such omission.

V.

Plaintiffs further maintain that certain of the jury’s findings were against the great weight of the evidence.

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17 V.I. 354, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8921, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/poole-v-ford-motor-co-vid-1980.