Kasel

This is an appeal from a judgment on a jury verdict for defendant and respondent, Remington Arms Company, Inc., a Delaware corporation, having its home office in Connecticut (hereinafter, Remington), and against plaintiff and appellant Edward W. Kasel (hereinafter, plaintiff), in an action for personal injuries and damages arising out of the explosion of a 12-gauge shotgun shell.

*717 I. Statement of Facts

A. Plaintiffs Injury and Source of Defective Shell

In late January 1965 plaintiff left Los Angeles, California, for Navojoa, Mexico, on a hunting trip along with two companions. He carried with him his 12-gauge Remington shotgun and four boxes of Remington Express ammunition, that being the amount of ammunition which Mexico allowed hunters to bring into the country.

Plaintiff’s party, while still in California, had arranged for the purchase of more shotgun ammunition from a Mr. McElroy in Sonora, Mexico. The purchase was completed there. The shells were Remington Express. 1 On conflicting evidence, but weighted that way, an implied finding, which we cannot disturb, was made that these shells were manufactured in Mexico.

On January 30, 1965, plaintiff’s party went…

I concur in judgment of reversal but respectfully dissent as to the basis for reversal. The threshold and pivotal issue in this case is what law is to be applied under the California law of conflict of laws. In this connection, it is important to bear in mind that factors pertinent to the choice of law question should be kept separate and apart from the factors relevant to the question of liability under the California law pertaining to products liability.

In this case (involving no personal relations, e.g., marital status or probate), the basic operative facts on the choice of law issue are: (1) place of manufacture, (2) place of sale, (3) place of injury, and (4) place of the injured person’s residence. The locale of the first three factors is Mexico-; the only contact with California is plaintiff’s residence.

Under the so-called “center of gravity” or “The Most Significant Relationship Approach” (adopted by the Restatement Second of Conflicts of Law as noted by the majority), the applicable law is clearly that of Mexico. To weight the happenstance factor o-f residence over the other three results in a throwback to “personal law” and the perpetuation of the vestiges of the…

This is an appeal from a judgment on a jury verdict for defendant and respondent, Remington Arms Company, Inc., a Delaware corporation, having its home office in Connecticut (hereinafter, Remington), and against plaintiff and appellant Edward W. Kasel (hereinafter, plaintiff), in an action for personal injuries and damages arising out of the explosion of a 12-gauge shotgun shell.

In late January 1965 plaintiff left Los Angeles, California, for Navojoa, Mexico, on a hunting trip along with two companions. He carried with him his 12-gauge Remington shotgun and four boxes of Remington Express ammunition, that being the amount of ammunition which Mexico allowed hunters to bring into the country.

Plaintiff's party, while still in California, had arranged for the purchase of more shotgun ammunition from a Mr. McElroy in Sonora, Mexico. The purchase was completed there. The shells were Remington Express. [1] On conflicting evidence, but weighted that way, an implied finding, which we cannot disturb, was made that these shells were manufactured in Mexico.

On January 30, 1965, plaintiff's party went hunting, and plaintiff was using the shells purchased in Mexico. [2]…