Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Motion in Limine Order in Quinton v. Toyota Addresses Crashworthiness in Modern Era


Earlier this week, I blogged about a recent trial of a Toyota Camry rollover case, which resulted in a defense verdict on June 21, 2013.  Prior to the trial, the Court issued a pre-trial Order in response to a motion in limine filed by Plaintiff's counsel.  The Order can be found here, and it is worthy of further commentary because it addresses crashworthiness in South Carolina.  It also references recent case law in which our courts have hinted at moving toward the Restatement (Third) of Torts: Products Liability (1998).  So...let's take a closer look.

To re-cap, the general facts relating to Quinton v. Toyota Motor Corporation can be found in this post.  Generally, the case involved a rollover of a 2009 Toyota Camry that resulted in the death of the driver (and sole occupant).  As stated in the Order, Plaintiff brought the case under the crashworthiness doctrine because she alleged the air bag failed to deploy properly during the accident. (Order at 2).  As a result, she claimed "enhanced injury" when the accident occurred, resulting in the death of the driver.  (Id).  Therefore, prior to trial, Plaintiff moved to exclude all evidence related to causation or fault. 

The Court began by summarizing prior South Carolina case authority on the crashworthiness doctrine.  Quoting from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Jiminez v. Daimler Chrysler Corp., 269 F.3d 439, 452 (4th Cir. 2001), the Court noted that "'liability [in a crashworthiness case] is imposed not for defects that cause collisions but for defects that cause injuries after collisions occur.'"  (Order at 2) (quoting id.).  In Jiminez, the district court excluded evidence of causation in a crashworthiness case.  The defendant had argued that because South Carolina adopted comparative negligence, the driver's alleged negligence was relevant to a damages calculation.  In concluding that the district court committed no error, the Jiminez Court noted that South Carolina had not addressed the issue of whether causation was relevant in a a crashworthiness analysis, and there was a split of authority on the issue.  Although the Court was not certain what the rule would be in South Carolina, it could not conclude that the the district court had erred in light of the fact that -- under the crashworthiness doctrine -- the cause of the original accident was not relevant to proving a claim for enhanced injury.  (Order at 2-3). 

Since Jiminez, the Court recognized that South Carolina courts still have not directly addressed this issue.  The Court offered to certify the question to the South Carolina Supreme Court, but the parties declined.  Therefore, the Court tried to ascertain how South Carolina courts would rule on it.  (Order at 3).

The Court reviewed that Branham v. Ford Motor Co., 390 S.C. 203, 220, 701 S.E.2d 5, 14 (2010) "embraced the Restatement (Third) of Torts: Products Liability (1998)."  (Order at 3).  Noting this trend, the Court cited to the comments in Restatement (Third) section 16 and the notion that a plaintiff's fault in causing an action that causes defect-related increased harm is relevant to apportioning responsibility.  (Order at 3-4) (emphasis added).  The Court noted that Jiminez did not hold that South Carolina would not admit evidence of cause in a crashworthiness analysis.  Rather, Jiminez only concluded there was no error by the district court under then-existing South Carolina law.  (Order at 4).

Since Jiminez, the Court noted that South Carolina has adopted comparative negligence, and its Supreme Court cited Restatement (Third) and its comments with approval in Branham.  (Order at 5).  The Court also noted that a majority of jurisdictions that considered the issue have held that comparative negligence is appropriately considered in a crashworthiness case.   Finally, the Court cited to language in Jiminez's dissent to support that a jury has to assess behavior of both the plaintiff and the defendant in a crashworthiness case to determine causation. The Court also agreed that the evidence was relevant to the analysis and conclusions of the experts accident reconstruction.  (Id.). 

The Order continues to show what this blog has maintained in numerous posts: Branham was a "game changer" in South Carolina products liability law.  Whether it leads to a definitive adoption of the Restatement (Third) of Torts: Products Liability (1998) by the Legislature remains to be seen, although our Legislature also made those overtures during the last round of tort reform.  We'll see...

This post is subject to the DISCLAIMER AND TERMS OF USE of this website.

Monday, August 5, 2013

Verdict Survey: 2009 Rollover of Toyota Camry in Aiken County



On June 21, 2013, a jury returned a defense verdict in a rollover case tried in United States District Court, Aiken Division.  The details of the case are set forth below.

Capsule Summary: On June 21, 2013, a jury returned a defense verdict in a case involving a fatal rollover event in a 2009 Toyota Camry.  The driver's personal representative for the estate brought a wrongful death suit against multiple defendants, alleging claims for strict products liability, breach of warranty, and negligence.

Case Information: Alacia C. Quinton as PR for the Estate of April Lynn Quinton, Plaintiff, v. Toyota Motor Corporation; Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., Inc.; Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing North America, Inc., Toyoda Gosei North America Corporation, Defendants, C/A No.: 1:10-cv-02187-JMC.

Date of Verdict: June 21, 2013

Venue: United States District Court, District of South Carolina, Aiken Division

Judge: The Honorable J. Michelle Childs

Factual Background: On October 14, 2009, April Lynn Quinton was driving a rented 2009 Toyota Camry in Aiken, South Carolina.  She lost control of the vehicle while driving north into a left-hand curve.  The car exited the road, struck an embankment, and rolled over several times before coming to rest on its wheels.  Ms. Quinton was partially ejected and suffered severed head injuries from which she never recovered.  She died on October 23, 2009.

Allegations and Procedure: Plaintiff filed a wrongful death and survival action against Defendants in the Aiken County Court of Common Pleas.  In the Complaint, Plaintiff asserted claims for strict products liability, breach of warranty, and negligence.  Plaintiff alleged the vehicle's roof structure and seat belt restraint system were defective generally.  Plaintiff also alleged that the supplemental restraint system, which involved certain airbag technology, was defectively designed.   More specifically, the 2009 Toyota Camry's supplemental restraint system included a curtain shield airbag ("CSA").  This system deploys above the vehicle's doors to protect a passenger's head from side impacts.  Plaintiff alleged that the vehicle lacked a rollover-activated curtain shield airbag ("RCSA").  This system, which was not included in the 2009 vehicle, has a rollover sensor that deploys the curtain shield airbags when it senses the car is rolling over.

Defendants removed the case to the United States District Court of the District of South Carolina, Aiken Division.  Defendants answered the Complaint and later filed a motion for summary judgment.  The Court granted the motion with regard to Plaintiff's claims relating to a defective roof and defective seat belt restraint system.  However, it denied summary judgment on Plaintiff's claim of a defectively designed supplemental restraint system.

At trial, the primary liability theory remaining and asserted by Plaintiff was the claim that the driver's side airbag failed to fully deploy.  Plaintiff alleged this failure was the result of a hole in the airbag during manufacture (i.e., manufacturing defect).  Defendants demonstrated that the hole found in the airbag post-accident was created during the severe four-roll rollover event as the bag was constrained and over-pressurized.  In addition, the defendants presented evidence of the Quality Assurance/Quality Control procedures followed a the non-party manufacturers. 

Experts: Plaintiff presented the following experts: Ron Kirk (accident reconstruction), Robert Bowser (airbag design), Richard Edwards (materials science), and Joe Burton (biomechanics).  Defendants presented the following experts: Geoff Germane (accident reconstruction), Bob Gratzinger (roof structure), Mike Klima (airbag design), Karen Balavich (airbag/materials science) and Catherine Corrigan (biomechanics).

Alleged Damages: Plaintiff asked for $5 million.

Result: After four hours of deliberation, the jury returned their verdict in favor of the defendants.

Miscellaneous: This case also involved some pre-trial motions, one of which was a motion in limine by Plaintiff to exclude all evidence related to accident causation or fault.  I will try to post the Court's Order on that motion later in the week, as it provides some interesting insight into our state's movement toward Restatement (Third) of Torts: Products Liability (1998) and crashworthiness.  Also, special thanks to my friends and former colleagues, Dick Willis and Angela Strickland, for calling this case to my attention.  Dick and Angela were on the defense trial team for this case.  They were also kind enough to present the case at our products liability breakout session at the South Carolina Defense Trial Attorneys Association Summer Meeting a couple of weeks ago.

This post is subject to the DISCLAIMER AND TERMS OF USE of this website.