Nissan Motor Co. v. Armstrong - 145 S.W.3d 131 (Tex. 2004)

Rule:

Erroneous admission of evidence requires reversal only if the error probably (though not necessarily) resulted in an improper judgment. Tex. R. App. P. 61.1. The appellate court reviews the entire record and requires the complaining party to demonstrate that the judgment turns on the particular evidence admitted.

Facts:

The consumer claimed her car took off backwards and hit a brick building and then shot forward and struck a telephone pole, despite her application of the brakes. Another unintended acceleration occurred when a family friend was driving the car. The consumer sued the manufacturer for products liability, negligence, gross negligence, breach of warranty, fraud, negligent misrepresentations, and violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices--Consumer Protection Act. In support of her claim that the throttle cable was defective, the consumer presented expert testimony from a mechanical engineer, factual testimony from four other owners who had experienced unintended acceleration, 16 written reports of unintended acceleration, and the manufacturer's database of 757 consumer complaints. The manufacturer objected unsuccessfully to most of this evidence on grounds of hearsay, relevance, and incompetence. The jury returned a verdict favorable to the consumer on each of her fifteen theories of liability. The trial court rendered judgment on the jury's findings of design, manufacturing, and marketing defects, negligence, and gross negligence, but rendered judgment notwithstanding the verdict on the other theories. Although the consumer and the manufacturer had stipulated to $ 2 million in punitive damages if the jury found gross negligence (which it did), the trial court remitted this amount to $ 1.2 million. Both sides appealed. When the court of appeals affirmed, both sides petitioned the State Supreme Court for review.

Issue:

1. Did the trial court err in admitting the evidence proffered by the consumer? 
2. Assuming that there was an error in admitting evidence, did the error result in improper judgment? 

Answer:

1) Yes. 2) Yes.

Conclusion:

The Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals, holding that the consumer’s evidence was improperly admitted. According to the Court, nothing in the database suggested that the defect, if any, was similar to any of the defects alleged by the consumer. Product defects had to be proved and could not simply be inferred from a large number of complaints. Reports collected by a government agency contained hearsay within hearsay. None of the lay witnesses could verify a defect as the cause of their acceleration incidents, much less a defect similar to that alleged by the consumer. Because evidence of other incidents was emphasized at every opportunity, it probably resulted in an improper judgment.