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TAYLOR v. GENERAL MOTORS CORP.10/31/1997
urt first adopted a hybrid form of liability in defective product cases, the language now quoted by Taylor is found in the context of differentiating between traditional negligence principles and the doctrine of strict liability in tort. There, this Court stated:
"The only real difference between strict tort liability and the traditional negligence theory in products liability cases is that those courts which have adopted the rule of strict liability look to the dangerous characteristics of the end product, rather than the methods or processes by which it was produced. This represents a shift in emphasis from the manufacturer's, or seller's, conduct to the performance of his product. However, the results are the same, viz., the defendants must pay the consequences of placing an unreasonably dangerous or defective product on the market. 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.
In Sears, the Court reiterated the language now relied on by Taylor, but prefaced it by stating that "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." 395 So.2d at 994 (emphasis added). Sears also cited Restatement (Second) of Torts, ยง 402A, cmt. g (1965), to describe the plaintiff's burden of proof in products liability cases:
"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 [the thing] 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."
395 So.2d at 995 (emphasis added).
In its proper context, the language Taylor has pulled from Casrell and Sears was clearly meant to relieve AEMLD plaintiffs only of the burden of proving the specific negligent conduct that ultimately caused a defective condition in a manufacturer's product. In this case, for example, Taylor would not have to prove that the torque rod bracket and the transmission mount were negligently designed by a GM engineer or that a GM worker negligently installed these components in the Sprint. Nonetheless, Taylor still must prove the existence of a defective condition and prove that the defect proximately caused his injuries.
In an effort to carry his burden of proof, Taylor offered the testimony of experts to show that the torque rod bracket and the transmission mount were defective because of a likelihood of fatigue that would cause the parts to break. If the jury rejected this evidence, his case would necessarily fail for lack of proving a defective condition in the Sprint. Nonetheless, Taylor's requested instruction, which would have told the jury that he need not prove a specific defect, could have allowed the jury to infer the existence of a defect simply by virtue of the car's inexplicably running off the road.
However, allowing a jury to infer that a product is defective solely from the fact that it failed in some manner does not square with our holding in Sears, where the Court held that the AEMLD requires "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." 395 So.2d at 995. The Sears Court held that the blowout of a four-and-a-half-month-old tire , which had been driven approximately 30,000
miles, was not sufficient evidence to establish that there had bee
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