JAMES RICHARD KANE, APPELLANT,
v.
THE FORD MOTOR COMPANY

3d Cir. | 1971-11-11
No. 19425
450 F.2d 315 United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (1971) Caution
Cited by 24 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.


Holding

The trial court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to admit a service letter as evidence because it was irrelevant to the plaintiff's theory of the case.


Facts & Procedural History

The plaintiff sued for injuries sustained when his vehicle's brake hose allegedly failed, causing an accident. He sought to introduce a service letter…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM:

PER CURIAM:

This appeal raises the issue whether the trial judge erred in refusing to admit into evidence a service letter distributed by the Ford Motor Company to its dealers indicating a possible defect in the construction of certain vehicles. Here, the driver of a 1963 Ford Econo-line appeals from an adverse jury verdict in his products liability action.

It was appellant’s contention at trial that while he was driving home after work, after spending several hours in a roadside tavern, his vehicle veered out of control and struck a guard railing, causing him to sustain serious injuries. At trial, he advanced the theory that the right front brake hose was installed with a “reverse twist” at the time of manufacture, and that this improper installation caused the brake hose to become abraded and to blow out, causing his vehicle to swerve into the railing.

He offered to introduce into evidence a service letter sent by Ford to its dealers, approximately two years prior to the accident, warning that in certain Eeonolines “some front brake wheel supports * * * may have been bent out of proper position.” The trial judge ruled the service letter inadmissible.

The trial court has great discretion in determining the admissibility of evidence, which will not be disturbed on appeal absent a finding of abuse. Control Data Corp. v. International Business Machines Corp., 421 F. 2d 323 (8th Cir. 1970).

We find that the trial court did not abuse its discretion. Indeed, the letter was irrelevant to appellant’s theory of the case. Appellant contended that an improperly installed brake hose caused the accident. The service letter, however, spoke of the possible improper installation of front brake wheel supports. Although appellant urged that the improperly installed front brake wheel support rubbed against the brake hose causing it to become abraded and eventually blow, he presented no testimony that the condition described in the service letter existed on the subject vehicle. Clearly, brake hose abrasion can result from causes other than friction from the brake wheel support.

The judgment of the district court will be affirmed.1

. In any event, we perceive a jurisdictional l>roblem in the complaint. It is proper for this court to inquire into the jurisdictional prerequisites sua sponte. Shah-moon Industries, Inc. v. Imperato, 338 F. 2d 449 (3d Cir. 1964) ; F.R.C.P. 12(h) (3). Title 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a) provides that district courts shall have original jurisdiction in diversity actions. Section 1332(c) provides that a corporation shall be deemed to be a citizen of the state in which it is incorporated and in which it has its principal place of business. The court has not rend this jurisdictional prerequisite in the disjunctive, but rather, has required complaints to include allegations of both the place of incorporation and the principal place of business of the corporate parties. Guerrino v. Ohio Casualty Insurance Co., 423 F. 2d 419 (3d Cir. 1970). The complaint here lacks any allegation ns to where appellee maintains its principal place of business.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By (12 total)

Previewing 3 of 12 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw