Perez

*663 Opinion

INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff Juan Perez was injured by a paper rewinding machine designed and manufactured by VAS S.p.A. (VAS). He sued VAS, alleging causes of action for strict products liability and negligence. In a nonjury trial, VAS asserted that its design was not defective, and that Perez and his employer engaged in an unforeseeable misuse of the machine, thereby absolving VAS of liability. The trial court agreed and entered judgment for VAS. In his appeal from the judgment, Perez raises various contentions, most notably that the trial court erred in assigning the burden of proving the absence of unforeseeable misuse to him, rather than requiring VAS to prove unforeseeable misuse. We agree that the trial court erred in failing to adhere to the applicable burden-shifting analysis, under which Perez was required to make a prima facie showing that his injury was proximately caused by the design of the rewinding machine, whereupon the burden of proof shifted to VAS to prove that Perez’s use of the machine was so unforeseeable as to constitute the superseding cause of his injury. But the error was not prejudicial. Despite the court’s inaccurate reference to the burden of…