Timothy Crayton v. Rochester Medical Corporation

FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION DEC 10 2013
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
TIMOTHY CRAYTON, No. 11-15574
Plaintiff - Appellant, D.C. No. 1:07-cv-01318-OWW-
GSA
v.
ROCHESTER MEDICAL MEMORANDUM*
CORPORATION,
Defendant - Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of California
Oliver W. Wanger, District Judge, Presiding
Submitted November 19, 2013**
Before: CANBY, TROTT, and THOMAS, Circuit Judges.
California state prisoner Timothy Crayton appeals pro se from the district
court’s summary judgment in his diversity action alleging strict and negligent
products liability, fraudulent misrepresentation, and breach of implied warranty
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
**
The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
against the manufacturer of an allegedly defective external male condom catheter.
We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We review de novo summary
judgment, and for an abuse of discretion evidentiary rulings made in the context of
summary judgment. Fonseca v. Sysco Food Serv., Inc., 374 F.3d 840, 845 (9th
Cir. 2004). We affirm.
The district court properly granted summary judgment on each of Crayton’s
claims because Crayton failed to raise a genuine dispute of material fact as to
whether defendant’s condom catheter was a substantial factor in causing his injury.
See Merrill v. Navegar, Inc., 28 P.3d 116, 124 (Cal. 2001) (“[U]nder either a
negligence or a strict liability theory of products liability, to recover from a
manufacturer, a plaintiff must prove that a defect caused injury.”); Manderville v.
PCG & S Grp., Inc., 55 Cal. Rptr. 2d 59, 68-69, n.4 (Ct. App. 2007) (plaintiff must
establish that he was harmed by justifiably relying on defendant’s fraudulent
misrepresentation); Dougherty v. Lee, 168 P.2d 54, 56 (Cal. Ct. App. 1946)
(plaintiff must establish through substantial evidence that defendant’s implied
warranty was the proximate cause of injury).
The district court did not abuse its discretion in excluding certain evidence
submitted by Crayton, including an ordinary consumer expectations survey, the
declarations of other inmates injured by the same catheter under unspecified
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circumstances, and consumer complaints about various aspects of the catheter,
because Crayton failed to establish that the evidence was admissible to establish a
design defect under California law. See Rosburg v. Minn. Mining & Mfg. Co., 226
Cal. Rptr. 299, 303-04 (Ct. App. 1986) (consumer expectations test does not apply
to design defect cases involving medical devices, but to products within the
ordinary consumer’s scope of common experience); see also Howard v. Omni
Hotels Mgmt. Corp., 136 Cal. Rptr. 739, 761 (Ct. App. 2012) (to be admissible,
evidence of another similar accident must have occurred under substantially the
same circumstances).
Crayton’s request for judicial notice, set forth in his reply brief, is denied.
See Fed. R. Evid. 201.
Crayton’s contentions regarding defendant’s alleged spoliation of evidence,
the district court’s alleged failure to understand the nature of his claim or the scope
of his injuries, and unspecified alleged violations of the Due Process and Equal
Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment are unpersuasive.
AFFIRMED.
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