Carrau

Sometime in the late 1980’s, Robert W. Carrau purchased over 50 windows from Marvin Lumber and Cedar Company (Marvin), a window manufacturer, which were incorporated into a residence Carrau built for himself and his wife in Orinda, California. The windows proved to be defective, and, on October 17, 1997, Carrau filed suit against Marvin, seeking damages on the theories, as relevant here, of products liability, breach of express and implied warranties and violation of the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, Civil Code section 1790 et seq. (hereafter the Song-Beverly Act).

The trial court granted summary adjudication to Marvin on Carrau’s theory of breach of implied warranty, finding Carrau’s claims under that theory to be time-barred. The remaining claims were tried to a jury, which returned a verdict in favor of Carrau on his claim of breach of express warranty, awarding him $200, and on his claim of strict products liability, awarding him $350,000. The jury, however, returned a defense verdict on Carrau’s claim of breach of the Song-Beverly Act.

Marvin appeals from the order of the trial court denying Marvin’s motion for a new trial or for judgment notwithstanding the…