Readenour v. Marion Power Shovel

719 P.2d 1058, 149 Ariz. 442, 1986 Ariz. LEXIS 218
CourtArizona Supreme Court
DecidedMay 12, 1986
Docket18224-PR
StatusPublished
Cited by79 cases

This text of 719 P.2d 1058 (Readenour v. Marion Power Shovel) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Arizona Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Readenour v. Marion Power Shovel, 719 P.2d 1058, 149 Ariz. 442, 1986 Ariz. LEXIS 218 (Ark. 1986).

Opinion

FELDMAN, Justice

Robert and Catherine Readenour (plaintiffs) petition us to review a decision of the court of appeals which reversed a judg *444 ment entered in plaintiffs’ favor and against Marion Power Shovel, a division of Dresser Industries, Inc. (defendant). Readenour v. Marion Power Shovel, 149 Ariz. 454, 719 P.2d 1070 (App.1985).

We concur in the result reached by the court of appeals but granted review because we disagree with its conclusions concerning the construction and application of A.R.S. § 12-686, which limits the admission of evidence of post-sale modification in a product liability action. Because this is a matter of first impression, we granted review. Rule 23, Ariz.R.Civ.App.P., 17A A.R.S. We have jurisdiction pursuant to Ariz.Const. art. 6, § 5(3) and A.R.S. § 12-120.24.

The facts necessary to resolve the issues on review are few. Mr. Readenour’s arm was amputated after an accident in which he came into contact with high voltage conductors on a huge, electrically powered mining shovel manufactured by defendant. The shovel was complex, very expensive and had only a limited market—at the time of trial there were approximately 120 of these shovels in the world. The conductors, known as collector rings, may have been inadequately guarded. The legal issues before us are very narrow and concern only the admission of evidence of the product’s design and safety history—primarily that relating to post-sale product changes.

The shovel was designed and manufactured by defendant or its predecessor and was placed in service by plaintiff’s employer in 1968. Plaintiff was injured in 1979. Between those dates, defendant had modified the design of the guards to make the collector rings less accessible. It had also provided warning signs for mounting on the guards of shovels previously sold. These signs fit some of the shovels, but not the one on which plaintiff was injured; as a consequence, the sign for that shovel was placed on a different part of the housing, near some electrical cables. At trial, the court allowed plaintiffs to adduce evidence of these post-sale, pre-accident modifications of the product. The court of appeals indicated that evidence of post-sale changes in the size or configuration of the collector ring guard was inadmissible under A.R.S. § 12-686(2) and that as a'whole the “admission of the subsequent change evidence was prejudicial and requires reversal.” (149 Ariz. at 457, 719 P.2d 1073.)

Plaintiffs argue both that § 12-686(2) is an unconstitutional infringement on this court’s rule-making powers and that, if it is constitutional, the statute was inapplicable to the evidence in question. Thus, plaintiffs contend, the evidence of change had either general or limited admissibility. Defendant argues the evidence was at most admissible for limited purposes and that the trial court erred either in admitting the evidence of change or in refusing a requested instruction on its limited use.

THE ADMISSIBILITY OF EVIDENCE OF CHANGE

1. Statutory Interpretation

The admissibility of evidence of post-sale change is covered by both A.R.S. § 12-686(2) 1 and Rule 407, Ariz.R.Evid., 17A A.R.S. 2 The power to make procedural rules is granted to this court by art. 6, § 5(5) of the Arizona Constitution. Rules of evidence are promulgated under our constitutional grant of power and are ordinari *445 ly considered procedural in nature. State ex rel. Collins v. Seidel, 142 Ariz. 587, 591, 691 P.2d 678, 682 (1984). The doctrine of separation of powers prevents the legislature from assuming judicial functions. Id.

The statute forbids the admission of evidence of post-sale changes “as direct evidence of a defect”, while Rule 407 3 forbids the admission and use of post-injury remedial measures as “evidence of negligence or culpable conduct.” Plaintiffs contend that evidence of the modification was admissible under Rule 407 because the modification was post-sale but pre-injury. Thus, they argue, the statute conflicts with the rule and is void. We have previously held that we will recognize statutory evidentiary rules when they are “reasonable and workable”, supplementing rather than contradicting the rules which the court has promulgated. Seidel, 142 Ariz. at 591, 691 P.2d at 682.

Does the statute supplement or contradict? It appears to diverge from Rule 407 in two ways. Most importantly, the statute forbids admission of changes as “direct evidence of defect”, while the rule forbids admission of such evidence “to prove ... culpable conduct”, but permits it if used for any other relevant purpose. Evidence of both post-sale and post-accident product changes is obviously very relevant on a number of issues in a product liability action. 4 We believe that an absolute prohibition against admission of evidence of post-sale change (which, of course, would include post-injury change) would conflict with both the general policy of the Rules of Evidence to admit all relevant evidence (see Rule 402) and the specific provisions of Rule 407, which permits some uses. We cannot, therefore, consistent with our rule-making power, view the statute as a compíete proscription of evidence of remedial changes in the product.

We have held that it is our duty to save a statute, if possible, by construing it so that it does not violate the constitution. Arizona Downs v. Arizona Horsemen’s Foundation, 130 Ariz. 550, 554, 637 P.2d 1053, 1057 (1981). We cannot interpret a statute in such a way as to do violence to the words or the legislature’s intent. By using the word “direct” to modify the phrase “evidence of a defect,” the legislature obviously intended to allow some uses of such evidence—those that were relevant to proof of matters other than mere existence of a defect. The interpretation which we give to the statute does not torture the words or conflict with the legislature’s intent. We believe A.R.S. § 12-686 can be saved if its prohibition against admission as “direct evidence of a defect” is interpreted in the same manner as the prohibition against admission as “evidence of negligence or culpable conduct” of Rule 407. This interpretation is appropriate because, as the court of appeals mentioned, the same policy considerations support both the statute and the rule. (149 Ariz. at 457, 719 P.2d at 1073.)

We turn next to the chronological problem.

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Bluebook (online)
719 P.2d 1058, 149 Ariz. 442, 1986 Ariz. LEXIS 218, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/readenour-v-marion-power-shovel-ariz-1986.