Dimond

Plaintiff was injured in an accident involving a towmotor manufactured by defendant Caterpillar Tractor Co. and retailed by defendant Cal-Lift, Inc. Plaintiff brought an action in strict liability alleging that his injuries were proximately caused by certain defects in the towmotor. 1 At the conclusion of plaintiff’s case-in-chief, *177 the trial court granted defendants’ motion for a nonsuit on the ground plaintiff had failed to establish a causal nexus between the alleged defects and his injuries. Plaintiff appeals from the ensuing judgment for defendants.

As has been so often emphasized, a “ ‘nonsuit in a jury case . . . may be granted only when disregarding conflicting evidence, giving to the plaintiffs’ evidence all the value to which it is legally entitled, and indulging every legitimate inference which may be drawn from the evidence in plaintiffs’ favor, it can be said that there is no evidence to support a jury verdict in their favor.’ ” (Pike v. Frank G. Hough Co., 2 Cal.3d 465, 469 [ 85 Cal.Rptr. 629 , 467 P.2d 229 ], quoting Elmore v. American Motors Corp., 70 Cal.2d 578, 583 [ 75 Cal.Rptr. 652 , 451 P.2d 84 ].) In a products liability case, a plaintiff has…

I concur in the judgment of reversal because I am persuaded that a reasonable inference can be drawn that plaintiff jumped off the towmotor as a result of his previously formed anxiety about the exposed position of the gas tank. Not so, however, as to the so-called “defect” of erroneous warning. Although plaintiff testified he was aware of the warning, there is no testimony that, prior to the accident, he formed the intention of getting off the towmotor if he saw a heavy roll of paper falling. It is unreasonable in my view to infer that plaintiff saw the roll falling, remembered the warning, and decided to get off. If the accident happened as plaintiff hypothesizes, there was no time for deliberate rationalization by plaintiff and it is sheer speculation to suppose otherwise.

*186 Additionally, there is no evidence to prove that the so-called defective warning was defective. There is no proof that the protective cage withstood the direct impact of a heavy falling object. For all anyone knows the dent in the cage could have been caused by a glancing blow from the roll of paper or one part of the roll could have reached the floor or other resistant surface by the time another part…

TAMURA, Acting P.J.

Plaintiff was injured in an accident involving a towmotor manufactured by defendant Caterpillar Tractor Co. and retailed by defendant Cal-Lift, Inc. Plaintiff brought an action in strict liability alleging that his injuries were proximately caused by certain defects in the towmotor. [1] At the conclusion of plaintiff's case-in-chief, the trial court granted defendants' motion for a nonsuit on the ground plaintiff had failed to establish a causal nexus between the alleged defects and his injuries. Plaintiff appeals from the ensuing judgment for defendants.

(1) As has been so often emphasized, a "`nonsuit in a jury case ... may be granted only when disregarding conflicting evidence, giving to the plaintiffs' evidence all the value to which it is legally entitled, and indulging every legitimate inference which may be drawn from the evidence in plaintiffs' favor, it can be said that there is no evidence to support a jury verdict in their favor.'" ( Pike v. Frank G. Hough Co., 2 Cal.3d 465, 469 [ 85 Cal. Rptr. 629 , 467 P.2d 229 ], quoting Elmore v. American Motors Corp., 70 Cal.2d 578, 583 [ 75 Cal. Rptr. 652 , 451 P.2d 84 ].) (2) In a products liability…