(Download) "Habecker v. Clark Equipment Co." by United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ~ eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Habecker v. Clark Equipment Co.
- Author : United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- Release Date : January 28, 1991
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 66 KB
Description
Opinion OF THE COURT STAPLETON, Circuit Judge Connie Habecker and John Michael Habecker, decedent's wife and minor child, claim that defendants are strictly liable for John Habecker's death under the doctrine of ""crashworthiness"" because a forklift without an operator restraint system is a defective product. Appealing for the second time from a jury verdict for defendants, the Habeckers raise two major claims.1 First, they argue that the district court erred in admitting evidence of what was known in the industry when the forklift was manufactured about the desirability of operator restraint systems, evidence that they claim is irrelevant in a strict liability case. Second, they claim that the district court erroneously believed that it could not permit new legal theories and evidence on retrial. Because we conclude that evidence of what was known at the time of manufacture about the desirability of a safety feature is irrelevant in a crashworthiness case and that a substantial possibility exists that the inadmissible evidence influenced the jury, we will reverse the district court's judgment and remand for a new trial. On remand, the district court may exercise its discretion as to whether the Habeckers should be allowed to present new theories not barred by this court's mandate or its own prior orders that were not appealed. I.
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