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Armentrout v. FMC Corp.11/23/1992
to be "unreasonably dangerous," i.e., caused the risks of the design to outweigh the benefits. Therefore, we conclude that the instructions as a whole inadequately apprised the jury of the need to consider the risk-benefit test in its determination of whether the product was "defective."
We affirm that portion of the court of appeals' decision which holds that the jury should have been specifically instructed as to the definition of "defective." We reject that portion of the court of appeals' opinion which takes into consideration the use of the terms "defective" and "defect" throughout the trial. The test is whether the instructions, as a whole, correctly and adequately set forth the applicable law, not whether the jury could glean the term's meaning from its use during the course of the trial. Cf. Pueblo Bank and Trust Co. v. McMartin, 31 Colo. App. 546, 549, 506 P.2d 759, 761 (1972), appeal after remand 528 P.2d 953 (1974); Murrow v. Whiteley, 125 Colo. 392, 401, 244 P.2d 657, 662 (1952).
Although the law set forth in the instructions was correct, the jury was not adequately informed of the correct standard with which to determine the existence of "defectiveness," which resulted in substantial and prejudicial error. See Lee v. Great Empire Broadcasting, Inc., 794 P.2d 1032 (Colo. App. 1989) (trial court's rejection of instruction requiring jury to determine nature of employment relationship constituted prejudicial error as it left jury without any standards against which to Judge employer's defense). Therefore, on remand the trial court should instruct the jury that a "defect" refers to any aspect, not necessarily a flaw, in the product's design which causes the product to be unreasonably dangerous.
V.
Finally, we consider whether the trial court erred in giving the jury the following instruction on the defense of misuse:
A manufacturer of a product is not legally responsible for injuries caused by a product if: (1) the product is used in a manner or for a purpose other than that which was intended and which could not reasonably have been expected by the manufacturer; and (2) such use rather than a defect, if any, in the pro caused the plaintiffs' claimed injuries.
The court of appeals cited Schmutz, 800 P.2d 1307, concluding that "because the record contains evidence that such misuse may have been unforeseeable by the defendant, the court did not err in submitting the instruction to the jury." The court of appeals added, "however, on retrial, the jurors must be instructed that unless they determine that the misuse was unforeseeable, that misuse may not be considered as a defense."
The Armentrouts argue that Instruction No. 29 was improperly given in light of Schmutz. They argue that our decision in Schmutz bars a misuse instruction in this case because, as in Schmutz, FMC was aware that oilers worked within the swing radius of the superstructure while the crane was in operation and that numerous similar incidents had occurred prior to Armentrout's accident.
This court has recognized that, regardless of the defective condition of a product, misuse by an injured party which cannot be reasonably anticipated by the manufacturer is a defense where that conduct actually caused the injury . Schmutz, 800 P.2d at 1316; Uptain v. Huntington Lab, Inc., 723 P.2d 1322, 1324-25 (Colo. 1986) (noting that the Restatement (Second) of Torts ยง 402A cmt. h provides for the recognition of such a defense); Jackson v. Harsco Corp., 673
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