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TUCKER v. CATERPILLAR6/18/1997
district court noted, such an interpretation is consistent with a plain reading of the rule. By its terms, the rule makes the triggering event the same as the act giving rise to negligence. In this case that would be the 1985 blood transfusion, not the diagnosis of AIDS revealed in 1987.
We hold that the blood transfusion given in 1985 was the event triggering the protection of rule 407, not the doctor's later knowledge of his patient's injury .
Id. at 34. Thus, the holding in Doe does not assist defendant Caterpillar here.
We conclude that the "event" controlling whether rule 407 applies in the present case was the September 1990 accident in which plaintiff Tucker was injured. Thus, the trial court erred in applying rule 407 to exclude evidence concerning the warning decal and 1990 manual, which were brought into use by Caterpillar before that accident.
B. Effect on plaintiff's substantial rights. Our conclusion that Iowa Rule of Evidence 407 was improperly applied in this case does not end our analysis. Reversal is warranted only if plaintiff Tucker has shown that exclusion of the evidence concerning the warning decal and 1990 manual affected his substantial rights. See Iowa R. Evid. 103(a).
Our review of the record shows that the trial court admitted other evidence concerning the problem of unexpected reengagement of the transmission in connection with the CAT 416. Evidence before the jury showing Caterpillar's knowledge of the problem included: (1) testimony by an engineer for Caterpillar concerning reports received by Caterpillar, before plaintiff Tucker's accident, of incidents of unexpected machine movement and her concession that Caterpillar knew unexpected movement of the machine was dangerous; (2) the Service Magazine article, published by Caterpillar, discussing design changes in response to those reports; and (3) documentation by Caterpillar of complaints it received about unexpected machine movement. There was also evidence, including plaintiff's expert testimony, regarding the inadequacy of the information and warnings provided in connection with the operation of the CAT 416 at issue. Because there was substantial other evidence from which the jury in the nine-day trial could have concluded that Caterpillar was negligent in connection with plaintiff's allegation of Caterpillar's continuing duty to warn of dangers associated with operation of the machine, we find that reversal is not warranted. In view of the other record evidence, exclusion of evidence of the warning decal and 1990 manual did not affect plaintiff's substantial rights as contemplated by rule 103(a). Thus, no error warranting reversal of the case appears.
IV. Disposition. Because our conclusions in division III are dispositive of this matter, we need not address the other issues raised by the plaintiff. We affirm the judgment of the district court.
AFFIRMED.
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