Learn About the Law
Get help with your legal needs
FindLaw’s Learn About the Law features thousands of informational articles to help you understand your options. And if you’re ready to hire an attorney, find one in your area who can help.
Viviana REYES, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. KIMBALL, etc., et al., Defendants-Respondents. [And A Third-Party Action]
Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Bertram Katz, J.), entered January 20, 1999, dismissing the complaint and bringing up for review an order, same court and Justice, entered on or about April 10, 1998, which, in a products liability action, granted the motion by defendant manufacturers, at the close of plaintiffs' evidence, to dismiss the complaint for failure to make out a prima facie case, unanimously affirmed, without costs. Appeal from order, entered on or about April 10, 1998, unanimously dismissed, without costs, as subsumed in the appeal from the ensuing judgment.
The complaint was properly dismissed at the close of plaintiffs' evidence since that evidence would not have permitted the jury to conclude rationally that the chair from which plaintiff fell suffered from a design defect at the time defendant manufacturers placed it in the stream of commerce (see, D'Elia, v. Martin A. Gleason, Inc., Funeral Homes, 250 A.D.2d 803, 674 N.Y.S.2d 383) or, for that matter, at the time of the accident. There was no evidence that the subject chair ever manifested the defects alleged by plaintiffs. We note particularly the absence of testimony as to whether the screws referred to by plaintiffs' expert were missing from the chair at the time of the accident. Indeed, the testimony of plaintiffs' expert as to the cause of the accident was speculative and without support in the record, and, as such, insufficient to support a finding that the purported defects had been a “substantial factor” in causing plaintiff's injury (see, Voss v. Black & Decker Mfg. Co., 59 N.Y.2d 102, 463 N.Y.S.2d 398, 450 N.E.2d 204; Rodriguez v. Davis Equip. Corp., 235 A.D.2d 222, 651 N.Y.S.2d 528).
MEMORANDUM DECISION.
A free source of state and federal court opinions, state laws, and the United States Code. For more information about the legal concepts addressed by these cases and statutes visit FindLaw's Learn About the Law.
Decided: February 03, 2000
Court: Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, New York.
Search our directory by legal issue
Enter information in one or both fields (Required)
Harness the power of our directory with your own profile. Select the button below to sign up.
Learn more about FindLaw’s newsletters, including our terms of use and privacy policy.
Get help with your legal needs
FindLaw’s Learn About the Law features thousands of informational articles to help you understand your options. And if you’re ready to hire an attorney, find one in your area who can help.
Search our directory by legal issue
Enter information in one or both fields (Required)