Opinion ID: 1720415
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: plaintiff's burden to prove defectiveness

Text: With this as the historical background of AEMLD, the threshold inquiries then become: 1) What is the definition of a defective product? 2) What is Plaintiff's burden of proof? and 3) Has Plaintiff met that burden under the proof of record before us? This Court, defining a defect, has borrowed from two separate legal authorities. The Uniform Commercial Code, § 2-314, speaks in terms of unmerchantability as evidence of product inadequacy, i. e., that the goods are not fit for the ordinary purposes for which such goods are expected to be used. The Restatement (Second) of Torts, § 402A, speaks in terms of unreasonably dangerous. Combining these two principles, and using each in aid of the other, Casrell, at p. 133, states: defect is that which renders a product unreasonably dangerous, i. e., not fit for its intended purpose, and ... all defective products are covered.       Defective is interpreted to mean that the product does not meet the reasonable expectations of an ordinary consumer as to its safety. Comment g. of the Restatement says defective condition applies when, at the time the product leaves the seller's hands, it is in a condition not contemplated by the ultimate consumer. See, also, Atkins, at p. 142, under that portion of the opinion entitled Defective Condition; and Restatement (Second) of Torts, § 402A, Comment i. Accordingly, proof of the specific defect, i. e., the exact act, omission, process, construction, etc., resulting in the product's failing its intended use, is not required. If a product is unreasonably dangerous, it is necessarily defective, and the consumer should not be required to prove defectiveness as a separate matter. Casrell, at 131. Before applying the definition of defect to the facts at issue, we now address the second inquiry as to the Plaintiff's requisite proof to establish a prima facie case. Liability is not established merely by showing that the product failed in furthering or performing its intended use. The Plaintiff must prove that the product was substantially unaltered when used by him and must also prove causation in fact, including proof that the defect caused the injury and that the defect is traceable to the Defendant. 2 Frumer-Friedman, Products Liability, § 16A[4][e][i] (1980). It is not enough to show, for example, that Sears sold the tire and that Haven Hills was injured. The fact of an injury, of course, does not establish the presence of a defect. Thus, recovery cannot be predicated on injury alone, for linking liability to injury rather than to proof that a product is defective creates absolute rather than strict liability. Edwards v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 512 F.2d 276, 289 (5th Cir. 1975). Necessarily, then, this test is met only by a showing that the product's failure of performance is causally related in fact to the product's defective condition at the time of its sale. The evidence and testimony likely to prove the defectthat which rendered the product not fit for its anticipated useand the defect's link to the Defendant, depend upon the nature of the facts; but, ordinarily, expert testimony is required because of the complex and technical nature of the commodity. See, e. g., Edwards v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., supra ; Smith v. Uniroyal, Inc., 420 F.2d 438 (7th Cir. 1970); Gherna v. Ford Motor Co., 246 Cal.App.2d 639, 55 Cal. Rptr. 94 (1966); Baker v. Ford Motor Co., 501 S.W.2d 11 (Mo.1973); Ginnis v. Mapes Hotel Corp., 86 Nev. 408, 470 P.2d 135 (1970). This does not mean, however, that experts are always required, but simply that they are usually essential to produce evidence from which lay jurors may reasonably infer that the defective condition of the product is the cause of the product's failure and plaintiff's resultant injury. If such an inference may be reasonably made from the product's failure of performance under all the attendant circumstances absent expert testimony, a prima facie case is nonetheless established. At this juncture, it is important to note, again, that it is not negligence in the traditional sense (i. e., lack of due care in the product's manufacture or design) that is required; rather, the Plaintiff has proved a prima facie case where the evidence raises a reasonable inference from which the fact finder may rationally conclude that plaintiff's injuries and damages resulted proximately from the product's failure of performance causally related to its defective condition. See, Atkins, at 140. The burden of proof rests with the injured consumer to prove that the product left the defendant's control in an unreasonably dangerous condition not fit for its expected use, and that which rendered the product in such an unfit condition in fact caused the injury. The plaintiff's burden will not be sustained without evidence to support the conclusion that the product is defective. Restatement (Second) of Torts, § 402A, Comment g.