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Blue v. Environmental Engineering12/31/2003
to the machine and actually severed by the ram.
Under the risk-utility test, the burden then shifted to defendant to show that, on balance, the benefits of the challenged design outweighed the risk of danger inherent in the design. Lamkin, 138 Ill. 2d at 529, 563 N.E. 2d at 457. We find no indication in the record that defendant presented such evidence. There was no testimony that the utility of the machine would have been hampered by such precautions, that the cost of further precautions were prohibitive, or that the danger involved was not serious or likely to occur. Even if defendant did present such evidence, it would have been up to the jury's discretion which witnesses to believe and a determination that plaintiff's witnesses were more believable still would have provided a reasonable hypothesis for its holdings.
As a result, given the testimony presented, a reasonable hypothesis exists to construe the jury's finding that the danger was open and obvious as consistent with its general verdict for plaintiff. The jury was free to weigh the factors discussed above and determine that the open and obvious nature of the danger did not outweigh defendant's obligation to manufacture a safer product. Instead, the jury may have appropriately attributed the open and obvious nature of the risk taken by plaintiff to its finding that he was contributorily negligent and the resulting reduction in damages. Therefore, the trial court erred in finding the answer to the interrogatory was fatally inconsistent with the general verdict.
In accordance with the above, we reverse the judgment entered on the special interrogatory and reinstate the jury's verdict. We further remand the cause to the trial court for reconsideration of the parties' posttrial motions, two of which the trial court conditionally denied and one which it conditionally granted based solely on its entry of judgment on the special interrogatory.
Reversed and remanded.
McNULTY, J. and McBRIDE, J. concur.
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