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Darbonne v. Wal-Mart Stores11/2/2000
ad caused the plates of the cell to heat and expand thus leading to a plate to come into contact with the strap which caused the explosion. He stated that this corrosion was the result of continued overcharging of the battery. He blamed this overcharge of the battery on the presence of a defective voltage regulator in the plaintiffs' truck, although he had no evidence whatsoever that the regulator on the truck in fact was ever defective.
Admittedly, Mr. Nelson was unable to state with absolute certainty that what he surmised caused the spark leading to the explosion, which would have been the result of the latent defect, occurred at the precise moment of ignition; he could only state that it had occurred at some point prior to the explosion. However, to know this with absolute certainty is virtually impossible because in order to know that this in fact did occur, Mr. Nelson, or some other expert, would have to have been present, observing the battery at the very instant that it exploded. The trial court thus evaluated the evidence offered by the two expert witnesses as to their theories of the cause of the explosion. We cannot find that the trial court committed manifest error or was clearly wrong when it accepted the explanation of the cause of the explosion given by the plaintiffs' witness.
Nor can we find that the trial court erred in finding Mr. Nelson to be a more credible witness than Mr. Schindler. In contrast to Mr. Nelson's formal training as an engineer and his educational and work experience background in fire hazards and explosives, the defendants' expert has no real scientific background, either in formal education or in on-the-job experience. Mr. Nelson's educational background in the field of explosive materials is also much more impressive. He has a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering. He has taken a number of continuing education courses on electrical fires, fire and explosion hazards, and the fundamentals of fire and explosion evaluation. Mr. Schindler, on the other hand, has no college degree, although he did attend college. His course of study, however, consisted of industrial technology and business. He has no engineering background whatsoever. Instead, his experience and training have been in the areas of quality control and management.
Additionally, the trial court perhaps also considered the fact that, contrasted to the relatively unbiased qualifications of Mr. Nelson, Mr. Schindler has spent the last twenty-two years working for one of the defendants, as he continued to do at the time of the trial. His current position is that of manager of the technical services of the legal group for Johnson Controls, Inc., the manufacturer of the battery. Prior to this position, he worked as a lab technician in the battery quality insurance lab, also for Johnson Controls.
This court cannot say that the trial court committed manifest error when it deemed that the evidence presented by the plaintiff was sufficient to prove that the plates in the battery were not properly fused in design, constituting an unreasonably dangerous condition at the time the battery left the control of the manufacturer and that this unreasonably dangerous condition caused the battery to suddenly explode which caused the injuries to plaintiff. Nor can we say that it was manifest error for the court to believe the plaintiffs' expert and not that of the defendants. Obviously, it was not the defendants' burden to prove any alternative theories; however, it was reasonable for the trial court to discount Mr. Schindler's theory and accept that of Mr. Nelson. The trial court only needed to find by a preponderance of the evidence, that is, more likely than not, that Mr. Nelson's
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