The plaintiffs’ attorney in the Lidle case told the press that, once the judge ruled that certain key evidence would be kept out of trial, a defense verdict was a foregone conclusion.

The plaintiffs wanted to tell the jury about an incident where, according to a Cirrus flight instructor, a Cirrus’ controls locked up in flight without warning in March 2006. That evidence, according to the plaintiffs’ attorney, would tend to prove that there was a problem with the Cirrus flight control system, just as plaintiffs had alleged. And typically such evidence of “other similar incidents” is exactly what persuades a jury that a product is indeed defective.  But the trial judge kept that evidence out of trial. In an opinion issued earlier today, the federal court of appeals for the second circuit ruled that the judge’s decision was within her discretion — in other words, it wasn’t wrong.

Plaintiffs argue that the district court erred by excluding evidence of a March 2006 incident involving another Cirrus Model SR20 G2 aircraft (the "Doremire Incident") to prove [Cirrus’] negligence and notice of a defective condition.

Evidence of prior accidents may be admitted at trial only if the proponent "establish[es] their relevance by showing that they occurred under the same or substantially similar circumstances as the accident at issue." Whether a prior accident occurred under "substantially similar" conditions necessarily "depends upon the underlying theory of the case, and is defined by the particular defect at issue."

The [trial judge] . . .concluded that the Doremire Incident did not occur under substantially similar circumstances because plaintiffs had not "provide[d] evidence that the Doremire incident involved [a rudder-aileron interconnect] lockup where the Adel clamp crossed over and locked on a bungee clamp."

 . . .  We see no abuse of discretion here. Accordingly, we affirm the [trial judge’s] ruling.

Plaintiffs also wanted to tell the jury about an Airworthiness Directive the FAA issued after the Lidle crash concerning the Cirrus’ rudder-aileron interconnect, again to prove that the design of the aircraft’s control system was defective. The judge kept that from the jury too. Again, the court of appeals ruled that the decision was within the trial judge’s discretion.

Federal Rule of Evidence 407 generally prohibits a plaintiff from introducing evidence of [a manufacturer’s] subsequent remedial measures "that would have made an earlier injury or harm less likely to occur" to prove the defendant’s "negligence; culpable conduct; a defect in a product or its design; or a need for a warning or instruction. Nevertheless, evidence of such measures may be introduced for other purposes, such as impeachment or — if disputed — to prove ownership, control, or the feasibility of precautionary measures. 

Plaintiffs argue that the district court erred by excluding. .  .a March 2008 . . . Airworthiness Directive mandating certain adjustments to the rudder-aileron interconnect on all Cirrus aircraft . . .Plaintiffs contend that Rule 407 does not apply to the Airworthiness Directive because it is a subsequent remedial measure taken by the government, not by Cirrus.

The . . . Airworthiness Directive incorporated by reference a 2007 Service Bulletin issued by Cirrus, which the [trial judge] excluded as a subsequent remedial measure and which exclusion plaintiffs do not challenge on review.  The [trial judge] concluded that allowing plaintiffs to introduce the Airworthiness Directive would function as a "back door" to introducing evidence of Cirrus’s own subsequent remedial measure, which was squarely prohibited by Rule 407. Further, the [trial judge] explained that "in the circumstances of this case where the [Airworthiness Directive] was issued as a direct response to [Cirrus’ Service] Bulletin, it is covered by Rule 407. . . because to determine otherwise might discourage manufacturers from issuing service bulletins as part of voluntary compliance procedures.

The second circuit’s ruling finally brings the Lidle case to a close.

(All citations omitted, full opinion here.)