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McLaughlin v. Fisher Engineering10/27/2003
Hillsborough-northern judicial district
Argued: September 11, 2003
The plaintiffs, Dennis W. McLaughlin, Sr., Kathryn McLaughlin and Ellen M. Faunce, individually and as administrators of their sons' estates, brought an action in Superior Court (Mangones, J.) against the defendant, Fisher Engineering (Fisher), manufacturer of the Fisher snowplow and snowplow mount, alleging strict products liability, negligence and failure to warn. The jury returned a verdict for Fisher. We affirm.
From the evidence presented at trial, the jury could have found the following facts. On October 25, 1997, Timothy McLaughlin and Matthew Wood were passengers in a Subaru traveling south on Route 114 in Goffstown. When the driver of the Subaru, Kyle Elliott, attempted to turn left onto St. Anselm's Drive, the Subaru was struck on its right side by a pick-up truck traveling north on Route 114. A Fisher snowplow mount was bolted to the front of the pick-up truck. McLaughlin, the front-seat passenger, was struck in the head and face by the snowplow mount and died at the scene of the accident. Wood, who was seated behind McLaughlin, was not struck by the snowplow mount but suffered severe injuries that caused his death two days later.
The snowplow mount attached to the front of the pick-up truck and its accompanying snowplow blade were manufactured by Fisher in 1982. The snowplow mount was designed to hold the snowplow blade in place. At the time of the accident, however, no snowplow blade was attached to the front of the pick-up truck.
The plaintiffs sued Fisher alleging that it was liable for enhanced injuries under theories of strict products liability, negligence, and failure to warn both before and after the 1982 sale of the snowplow and its mount. After the jury returned a verdict in favor of Fisher, the trial court denied the plaintiffs' motion to set aside the verdict.
On appeal, the plaintiffs argue that the trial court erred in: (1) refusing to allow them to introduce evidence of fourteen other claims against Fisher; (2) excluding a photograph that depicted the injuries to McLaughlin's head and face; (3) allowing Fisher to introduce evidence of McLaughlin's substance abuse and Wood's incarceration; (4) permitting Fisher's accident reconstruction expert to testify concerning bio-mechanical issues; and (5) allowing Fisher's counsel to make statements during trial that the non-party driver of the Subaru was at fault. We address each argument in turn.
We review the trial court's rulings on admissibility of evidence under an unsustainable exercise of discretion standard. See State v. Pelletier, 149 N.H. 243, 249 (2003). "Unless a party establishes that such a ruling was clearly untenable or unreasonable to the prejudice of his case, it will not be disturbed." Id.
I. Evidence of Other Lawsuits
Prior to the start of the trial, Fisher moved in limine to exclude evidence of fourteen other lawsuits filed against it concerning its snowplow mount, arguing that evidence of other lawsuits was more prejudicial than probative and was based upon hearsay. It also argued that introducing that evidence would confuse the jury and result in unnecessary delay. The plaintiffs argued that evidence of other lawsuits was admissible: (1) to prove the existence of a particular physical condition, situation or defect; (2) to help show that the defect or dangerous condition caused the injury; (3) to show the risk that Fisher's conduct created; and (4) to prove that Fisher knew, or should have known, of the danger.
The trial court ruled that "lawsuits arising after the 1982 sale and installation date of the frame [were] not suff
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