Montez

A plaintiff in an action for personal injuries in a products liability case is not required to elect whether to proceed on a theory of strict liability in tort or on a theory of negligence where the instructions on the two theories will not be confusing to the jury. (Jiminez v. Sears, Roebuck & Co. (1971) 4 Cal.3d 379, 387 [ 93 Cal.Rptr. 769 , 482 P.2d 681 , 52 A.L.R.3d 92 ].) At issue in this appeal is whether the court’s rejection of plaintiffs negligence instructions and its decision to instruct the jury solely on strict liability was prejudicial error. We conclude that in a non-res ipsa loquitur case involving a manufacturing defect only, the failure to follow Jiminez does not require reversal. We also explain that the court’s error in failing to instruct on the products liability definition of “defect” was not prejudicial. We affirm the judgment.

Factual and Procedural Background

On August 25, 1972, .plaintiff Maria Teresa Montez was a passenger in a 1969 Ford Mustang being driven by Esther Perez (Perez). She was seriously injured when ejected from the car after the driver failed to negotiate a sharp curve on the highway near Tecate, Baja California, Mexico. The…