Brokopp

In this action to recover damages for personal injuries sustained in a single-vehicle accident, defendant Ford Motor Company (Ford) appeals from a judgment entered upon a jury verdict in favor of plaintiffs Robert and Carol Brokopp (plaintiffs) in the amount of $3,010,000.

Named as defendants in addition to Ford were Sunset Ford, Inc. (Sunset), a Ford dealer, and Recreational Vans, Inc. (Recreational), a supplier of recreational vehicles. The case went to the jury on theories of strict tort liability and negligence as to Ford and Sunset and on the *848 theory of strict tort liability only as to Recreational. The jury returned a verdict of $10,000 in favor of Mrs. Brokopp and $3 million in favor of Mr. Brokopp, both as against Ford and Sunset. Recreational was exonerated. In its verdict the jury attempted to apportion liability for the judgment $2,007,500 to Ford and $1,002,500 to Sunset. The court struck the attempted apportionment as surplusage and entered judgment on the verdict. After rendition of judgment Sunset apparently paid plaintiffs $1,250,000 in return for a release from liability as to Sunset only.

Facts

Inasmuch as Ford does not challenge its sufficiency,…

I concur with the majority’s disposition of the case and with its analysis of the issues except in one important respect. I am constrained to disagree with its treatment of the only important legal issue in the case of precedential value: The admissibility of evidence of the defect in another component of the steering mechanism of the vehicle. The evidence was received, not to show there was a defect in the *863 part claimed to have caused the accident, but to show that Ford negligently discharged its duty to inspect for defects. The majority holds that admission of the evidence for the purpose for which it was offered and received constituted error. I disagree.

As part of their case in chief, plaintiffs called defendant’s expert and reviewed through him the inspection and testing procedures employed by Ford to detect defects in the power steering pump bracket. Ford’s engineer testified that other than a visual check by the assembly line worker for significant misalignment and a functional test by running the car for approximately 15 minutes, no specific check was made to determine whether the power steering pump pulley was properly aligned. He explained that Ford relied upon…

In this action to recover damages for personal injuries sustained in a single-vehicle accident, defendant Ford Motor Company (Ford) appeals from a judgment entered upon a jury verdict in favor of plaintiffs Robert and Carol Brokopp (plaintiffs) in the amount of $3,010,000.

Named as defendants in addition to Ford were Sunset Ford, Inc. (Sunset), a Ford dealer, and Recreational Vans, Inc. (Recreational), a supplier of recreational vehicles. The case went to the jury on theories of strict tort liability and negligence as to Ford and Sunset and on the theory of strict tort liability only as to Recreational. The jury returned a verdict of $10,000 in favor of Mrs. Brokopp and $3 million in favor of Mr. Brokopp, both as against Ford and Sunset. Recreational was exonerated. In its verdict the jury attempted to apportion liability for the judgment $2,007,500 to Ford and $1,002,500 to Sunset. The court struck the attempted apportionment as surplusage and entered judgment on the verdict. After rendition of judgment Sunset apparently paid plaintiffs $1,250,000 in return for a release from liability as to Sunset only.

Inasmuch as Ford does not challenge its sufficiency,…