Justia Admiralty & Maritime Law Opinion Summaries

In May 2020, a fire started in the engine of a recreational power boat on the Lake of the Ozarks, causing an explosion that injured Lauren Wilken and killed Shawn Carroll. The Carroll family and Wilken sued the boat's designer, manufacturer, and seller (collectively "Brunswick") for defective design, failure to warn, negligence, and wrongful death. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Brunswick.The plaintiffs appealed, asserting four errors by the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri. They claimed the district court erred in denying their Batson challenge, excluding evidence of other similar incidents, striking expert testimony, and not allowing them to introduce evidence of other explosions during closing arguments.The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reviewed the case. The court found no clear error in the district court's denial of the Batson challenge, as Brunswick's reason for striking Juror No. 13 was deemed reasonable and based on accepted trial strategy. The court also upheld the exclusion of evidence related to the Schroeder explosion, as the plaintiffs failed to show that the conditions of the boats were sufficiently similar. The court found no abuse of discretion in the district court's decision to strike the expert's testimony about the Schroeder explosion as a sanction for violating its order. Lastly, the court determined that the district court's curative instruction to the jury regarding Brunswick's counsel's comment during closing arguments was sufficient to mitigate any potential prejudice.The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment in favor of Brunswick. View "Carroll v. Brunswick Corporation" on Justia Law