Opinion ID: 350927
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Midland-Ross' contentions as to Bryan

Text: 22 Midland-Ross complains that the special interrogatories used to adjust liability between it and Bean were inadequate. First, Midland-Ross argues that the interrogatories did not require the jury to find that the manufacturing defect created by Midland-Ross rendered the clevis unreasonably dangerous apart from the unreasonable danger created by the design defect. Midland-Ross contends that without a separate finding of unreasonable danger, caused by the manufacturing defect, the case for strict liability was not proved against it. Second, Midland-Ross contends that the interrogatories should have required the jury to make a separate finding that Bryan did not misuse the clevis in a manner unforeseeable to Midland-Ross. Midland-Ross seems to construe foreseeability as a duty concept and argues that it, by virtue of being further removed from the user, could foresee a narrower range of misuse than a manufacturer in Bean's position. 23 Whatever the merit of these contentions had Midland-Ross been sued directly by Bryan, they do not convince us that error has been committed in this case. Bryan sued only Bean, which impleaded Midland-Ross. The judge properly required the jury to reach a general verdict against Bean before considering the liability of Midland-Ross. Under Texas products liability law, Bean, as both designer and distributor of the clevis, would be liable for both design defects and manufacturing defects. See, e. g., McKisson v. Sales Affiliates, Inc., 416 S.W.2d 787 (Tex.1967). The judge instructed the jury that liability of Bean could be predicated on either or both a manufacturing defect or a design defect. The special interrogatories tell us that included in the jury's general verdict against Bean is a finding that both types of defects existed and both rendered the product unreasonably dangerous. Moreover, any complaint that Midland-Ross may have on this issue relates only to its liability to Bean and can thus be remedied in the retrial that we have ordered on other issues. 24 Midland-Ross cites no authority for its proposition that different entities in the marketing chain have differing abilities to foresee misuse. As Texas products liability law has developed, misuse bars recovery in strict liability if the misuse was unforeseeable by the manufacturer and constituted a proximate cause of the accident. General Motors Corp. v. Hopkins, 548 S.W.2d 344 (Tex.1977). 9 Texas law is silent, however, on how the misuse defense might operate when the primary marketer sues the manufacturer. 25 We decline to interpret Texas law as Midland-Ross urges us to do. In our review of Texas products liability law we note that the unforeseeable misuse defense has developed in cases alleging design defect rather than manufacturing defect. See, e. g., General Motors Corp. v. Hopkins, supra; Henderson v. Ford Motor Co., 519 S.W.2d 87 (Tex.1974). We question whether the misuse defense has as wide a scope in cases of manufacturing defect, which, by definition, present a flaw in the product not intended to occur. In these circumstances, misuse relates only to causation of the accident rather than tending to prove the absence of a defect in the product as manufactured. See General Motors Corp. v. Hopkins, supra. The jury's general verdict, especially as illuminated by the special interrogatories, leaves little doubt that the jury was satisfied that the manufacturing defect constituted a producing cause of the accident. Therefore, any misuse was considered by the jury, but the jury found that defects, rather than misuse, caused the accident. 26 The Hopkins case, decided after this trial, permits misuse to be considered not only as bearing on defect and causation-in-fact, as above, but also as an affirmative defense. On remand, the Texas district judge may conclude, after reviewing Hopkins and Texas principles of contribution and indemnity, that Midland-Ross can attempt to reduce its potential liability to Bean by arguing that misuse unforeseeable by Midland-Ross proximately caused Bryan's injuries. Both because we order a new trial and because Midland-Ross' contention represents at least an extension of Texas tort law, we leave that issue for trial on remand.