### IN THE UNI TED STAT ES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIF TH CIRCU IT

N o

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- 1 0 1 6 9 S u m m a r y C a l e n d a r

S T E P H E N M

. A V D E E F
, I n d i v i d u a l l y a n d

a s n e x t f

r i e n d s o f A

. A

. , a m i n o r ; M E L I S S A A

. A V D E E F
, I n d i v i d u a l l y a n d

a s n e x t f

r i e n d s o f A

. A

. , a m i n o r ; S H I R L E Y A

. A V D E E F

P l a i n t i f f s

- A p p e l l a n t s

v

.

R O C K L I N E I N D U S T R I E S
, I N C

. ; S A M ’ S E A S T I N C

. , d o i n g b u s i n e s s a s S a m ’ s C l u b ; W A L

- M A R T S T O R E S T E X A S L L C

D e f e n d a n t s

- A p p e l l e e s

A p p e a l f

r o m t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s D i s t r i c t C o u r t f o r t h e N o r t h e r n D i s t r i c t o f T e x a s U S D C N o

. 3 : 0 8

- c v

- 2 1 5 7

B e f o r e J O N E S
, C h i e f J u d g e , a n d S M I T H a n d C L E M E N T
, C i r c u i t J u d g e s

. P E R C U R I A M : * U n i te d S ta te s C o u rt o f A p p ea l s F i ft h C i rc u i t 

### F I L E D Decem ber 8 , 20 10
Lyle W . Cayce Clerk

Pursua nt to 5 T H C I R

. R. 47.5 , the cour t has d ete rm ined t hat this op inion s hould not * be publ ish ed and is not pr ece dent excep t unde r the lim ite d cir cum st ance s se t for th in 5 T H C I R

. R. 47.5 .4. Case: 10-10169 Document: 00511316382 Page: 1 Date Filed: 12/08/2010N o

. 1 0

- 1 0 1 6 9

S t e p h e n M

. A v d e e f
, M e l i s s a A

. A v d e e f
, a n d S h i r l e y A

. A v d e e f ( “ A p p e l l a n t s ” )
, p r o c e e d i n g p r o s e , a p p e a l t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t ’ s g r a n t o f s u m m a r y j u d g m e n t i n f a v o r o f d e f e n d a n t s R o c k l i n e I n d u s t r i e s , I n c

. , S a m ’ s E a s t , I n c

. d / b / a
S a m ’ s C l u b
, a n d W a l

- M a r t S t o r e s T e x a s , L L C ( “ A p p e l l e e s ” )

. A t t h e d i s t r i c t

c o u r t , A p p e l l a n t s a l l e g e d a s e r i e s o f c l a i m s f o r i n j u r i e s s u f

f e r e d a f t e r b e i n g

e x p o s e d t o b a b y w i p e s a l l e g e d l y c o n t a m i n a t e d w i t h B

. c e p a c i a b a c t e r i a

. 1

A p p e l l e e s

– w h o d e s i g n e d
, m a n u f a c t u r e d
, p a c k a g e d
, m a r k e t e d
, d i s t r i b u t e d
, a n d

s o l d t h e w i p e s

– m o v e d f o r s u m m a r y j u d g m e n t o n A p p e l l a n t s ’ c l a i m s

. T h e d i s t r i c t

c o u r t g r a n t e d A p p e l l e e s ’ m o t i o n f o r s u m m a r y j u d g m e n t a n d d i s m i s s e d

A p p e l l a n t s ’ c l a i m s w i t h p r e j u d i c e

. T h i s a p p e a l f o l l o w e d

. A p p e l l a n t s c l a i m t o r a i s e t h r e e i s s u e s o n a p p e a l
, a l l o f w h i c h a r e w i t h o u t

m e r i t

. T h e f

i r s t t w o i s s u e s e s s e n t i a l l y a m o u n t t o a c l a i m o f j u d i c i a l b i a s , t h e

a p p r o p r i a t e r e m e d y f o r w h i c h w o u l d b e r e c u s a l

. A p p e l l a n t s d i d n o t , h o w e v e r ,

s e e k r e c u s a l a t t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t , a n d t h u s w e d e c l i n e t o e n t e r t a i n t h i s a r g u m e n t

o n a p p e a l

. A p p e l l a n t s h a v e n o t s h o w n g o o d c a u s e f o r n o t f i l i n g a n a f

f i d a v i t

r e q u e s t i n g t h e t r i a l j u d g e t o r e c u s e h i m s e l f p u r s u a n t t o 2 8 U

. S

. C

. § 1 4 4 , n o r

e x c e p t i o n a l c i r c u m s t a n c e s w h y w e s h o u l d c o n s i d e r t h i s i s s u e f o r t h e f i r s t t i m e

n o w

. S e e C l a y v

. A l l e n , 2 4 2 F

. 3 d 6 7 9 , 6 8 1 ( 5 t h C i r

. 2 0 0 1 )

. T h u s , t h i s i s s u e i s

w a i v e d

. T h e t h i r d i s s u e r e l a t e s t o t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t ’ s g r a n t o f s u m m a r y j u d g m e n t

a g a i n s t A p p e l l a n t s ’ c l a i m s

. T h i s c o u r t r e v i e w s g r a n t s o f s u m m a r y j u d g m e n t d e

n o v o , a p p l y i n g t h e s a m e s t a n d a r d s a s t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t

. C h i e f t a i n I n t ’ l ( U

. S

. )
, I n c

. v

. S e

. O f

f s h o r e , I n c

. , 5 5 3 F

. 3 d 8 1 7 , 8 1 9 ( 5 t h C i r

. 2 0 0 8 )

. T h e a p p l i c a b l e

The clai ms allege d we re: pr oduc t liabil ity, negligenc e and gros s negligenc e, com mo n 1 law fr aud, brea ch of cont rac t, violat ion of the Texas De cep tive Trad e Prac tic es Act (“ DTPA” ), brea ch of expr es s wa rra nty, brea ch of im plie d wa rra nty of me rch antab ilit y, and brea ch of the im pli ed warr anty of fitnes s. App elle es we re originally sui ng on behalf of thei r daught er, but t he dis tri ct cour t pr ope rly dis mi ss ed thei r “next fr iend ” st atus wh en they beca m e p r o s e plai ntif fs

. This d ism iss al is not app ealed

.
2 Case: 10-10169 Document: 00511316382 Page: 2 Date Filed: 12/08/2010N o

. 1 0

- 1 0 1 6 9

s t a n d a r d i n d i c a t e s t h a t s u m m a r y j u d g m e n t i s a p p r o p r i a t e a g a i n s t a p a r t y w h o

“ f a i l s t o m a k e a s h o w i n g s u f f i c i e n t t o e s t a b l i s h t h e e x i s t e n c e o f a n e l e m e n t

e s s e n t i a l t o t h a t p a r t y ' s c a s e , a n d o n w h i c h t h a t p a r t y w i l l b e a r t h e b u r d e n o f

p r o o f a t t r i a l

. ” C e l o t e x C o r p

. v

. C a t r e t t , 4 7 7 U

. S

. 3 1 7 , 3 2 2 , 1 0 6 S

. C t

. 2 5 4 8 , 2 5 5 2 ( 1 9 8 6 )

. H e r e , a n e s s e n t i a l e l e m e n t o f a l l A p p e l l a n t s ’ c l a i m s r e q u i r e d p r o o f t h a t

t h e w i p e s i n q u e s t i o n w e r e c o n t a m i n a t e d

. I n m o v i n g f

o r s u m m a r y j u d g m e n t , A p p e l l e e s o f f e r e d e v i d e n c e t h a t t h e

w i p e s w e r e n o t c o n t a m i n a t e d

. T h e y s u b m i t t e d l a b r e s u l t s f r o m A c c u t r a c e
T e s t i n g

– w h i c h d i s c l o s e d n o e v i d e n c e o f b a c t e r i a o n t h e w i p e s t h a t A p p e l l a n t s
h a d t u r n e d o v e r f

o r t e s t i n g

– a n d t w o l e t t e r s r e g a r d i n g t h e r e c a l l a n d a n a f f i d a v i t

s u g g e s t i n g t h a t t h e b a b y w i p e s c o m p l a i n e d o f b y A p p e l l a n t s w e r e n o t i n c l u d e d

w i t h i n t h e r e c a l l b y t h e m a n u f a c t u r e r

. O n c e A p p e l l e e s o f f e r e d t h i s e v i d e n c e , t h e
b u r d e n s h i f

t e d t o A p p e l l a n t s t o p r o v i d e c o m p e t e n t s u m m a r y j u d g m e n t e v i d e n c e

e s t a b l i s h i n g t h e e x i s t e n c e o f a g e n u i n e f a c t i s s u e

. S e e M a t s u s h i t a E l e c

. I n d u s

. C o

. v

. Z e n i t h R a d i o , 4 7 5 U

. S

. 5 7 4 , 5 8 6

- 8 7 , 1 0 6 S

. C t

. 1 3 4 8 , 1 3 5 6 ( 1 9 8 6 )

. D e s p i t e

t h i s b u r d e n , A p p e l l a n t s o f f e r e d n o a f

f i r m a t i v e e v i d e n c e a d m i s s i b l e i n c o u r t a n d

t e n d i n g t o s h o w t h e w i p e s w e r e c o n t a m i n a t e d

. A p p e l l a n t s i n s t e a d r e l y u p o n
b a l d a s s e r t i o n s t h a t t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t s h o u l d n o t h a v e t r u s t e d t h e c r e d i b i l i t y o f

t h e a u t h o r o f t h e a f

f i d a v i t , A l a n P e r l m a n , a n d t h a t t h e A c c u t r a c e T e s t i n g r e s u l t s

w e r e u n r e l i a b l e

. H o w e v e r , c o n c l u s o r y a l l e g a t i o n s t h a t a w i t n e s s l a c k s c r e d i b i l i t y

c a n n o t d e f e a t a m o t i o n f o r s u m m a r y j u d g m e n t

. T h o m a s v

. G r e a t A t l

. & P a c

. T e a
C o

. , I n c

. , 2 3 3 F

. 3 d 3 2 6 , 3 3 1 ( 5 t h C i r

. 2 0 0 0 )

. A n d
, s i n c e A p p e l l a n t s f a i l t o p r o v i d e

a n y e v i d e n c e s h o w i n g t h a t t h e A c c u t r a c e T e s t i n g r e s u l t s w e r e i n c o r r e c t o r t h a t

t h e w i p e s w e r e c o n t a m i n a t e d
, t h e y f a i l t o r a i s e a n y i s s u e o f m a t e r i a l f a c t

. W e t h u s A F F I R M t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t ’ s g r a n t o f s u m m a r y j u d g m e n t

. A F F I R M E D

.

3 Case: 10-10169 Document: 00511316382 Page: 3 Date Filed: 12/08/2010