Opinion ID: 1987778
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Evidence of Deere's Safety Program.

Text: The district court admitted evidence at trial detailing the safety program Deere & Company instituted in 1983 after it learned of injuries sustained by operators of their similarly designed cultivator due to falling wings. The Deere & Company program included warnings about the danger of removing the pin while under the wing, as well as notice of the availability of a safety-latch device for installation on the cultivators. The trial court admitted evidence concerning the complete program, but instructed the jury that Wil-Rich had no duty to recall or retrofit the cultivator. Wil-Rich does not object to evidence of the post-sale actions taken by Deere to warn its consumers of the danger. Instead, it objects to the inclusion of the safety latch retrofit evidenceWil-Rich claims any post-sale duty to warn it has does not include a duty to retrofit. Consequently, it contends evidence that Deere instituted a retrofit program was irrelevant and unfairly prejudicial. Lovick responds that Deere's entire safety program, including the safety latch program, was relevant to establish the existence of a defect, magnitude of the danger, foreseeability of use and misuse, and inadequacy of warnings on machines in use. Lovick did not challenge the trial court's ruling that Wil-Rich had no duty to retrofit. See Burke v. Deere & Co., 6 F.3d 497, 509 (8th Cir.1993) (recognizing Iowa law does not impose a duty to retrofit a product); see also 63 Am.Jur.2d Products Liability § 257 (1997); Lisa Ann Meyer, Annotation, Products Liability: Manufacturer's Post-Sale Obligation to Modify, Repair, or Recall Product, 47 A.L.R.5th 395, 405 (1997). Consequently, we must determine if the retrofit evidence is relevant for some other purpose. Relevant evidence has any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the cause more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence. Iowa R. Evid. 401. Although relevant, evidence may be excluded if its probative values are substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice. Iowa R. Evid. 403. We agree with Wil-Rich that the admission of Deere's retrofit program created a danger of a prejudicial inference that it should have developed and implemented a similar program. Yet, this evidence is also probative of the nature of the danger involved and the uses of the implement. Consequently, we cannot conclude the district court abused its discretion by admitting the evidence. On retrial, however, we caution the trial court regarding undue emphasis of Deere's retrofit program in light of its limited probative value and its potential for unfair prejudice.