Trial Court Judges & Fallibility? Questions of Law? Reversal on Appeal?
Can a judge rule a certain safety standard statue applies to an RCL ship when statute does not apply?
Time for a corollary. Let's say a certain federal statute requires a certain safety device, a safety widget, for semi trucks operating on public highways, effective as of 01/01/ 2015. Let's say, w Chloe in a properly manuf'ed & installed toddler seat in back seat, SA drives his domestic passenger car manuf'ed in US last yr w all its federal law-mandated safety devices in place, all working perfectly. SA is not paying attention to operating the vehicle. Maybe on his cell, talking/texting, adjusting radio volume, singing Baby Shark, or what-ev. The vehicle is involved in a one-vehicle crash against a concrete wall, in which Chloe dies, and SA is not injured.
Mom & Dad engage atty to sue car manufacturer. Complaint alleges in the car manuf'r was negligent in failing to install a Safety Widget in the model & make of SA’s passenger car. Plaintiff's atty argues if SA's car had been manuf'ed w a Safety Widget installed, the crash would not have occurred and Chloe would be safe & sound at home watching Frozen. Expert witness testimony from both sides. Blah, blah.
Auto manuf'r argues, fed statute requiring Safety Widget applies only to semi trucks and not to passenger cars.
This judge allows into evidence info about Safety Widgets & the fed statute; jury hears evd & awards a kajillion dollars to parents.
Tho imperfect, it's the corollary I'm conjuring up ATM as to whether the judge can find a law relevant and decide to apply it to this case re RCL ship.
Okay, trial ct does it. Does AutoManuf'r (RCL) open corp. checkbook & pay judgment?
Not likely. Defendant is waaaay more likely to appeal.
Whether a particular statute applies is usually a question of law.<--a judge decides.
And trial court's decision on question of law (& many other issues) is subject to appeal.
When a def thinks trial judge makes incorrect ruling on question of law, and that ruling results in a kajillion dollar judgment against the them, the def is pretttttty likely to appeal.
And in above case, app ct decision may determine that tr ct made an incorrect ruling on question of law, so reverse tr ct's decision. If failure to install Safety Widget in car was the only count of negligence, imo, app ct does not remand for re-triaI. As verdict for plaintiff was based on only that count and as a matter of law, it was not applicalble, the basis for ruling for plaintiff collapses.
But in this case, Complaint alleges multiple counts of negligence.
Wondering if you, as an architect, have had occasion to read and/or interpret any ASTM standards, to determine whether your client's design/project needed to comply w them.
