GEORGE ALVIN STILES, RESPONDENT, v. BATAVIA ATOMIC HORSESHOES, INC.,
RESPONDENT, v.RECORDS RESERVE CORPORATION, APPELLANT.
81 N.Y.2d 950, 613 N.E.2d 572, 597 N.Y.S.2d 666 (1993).
April 8, 1993
4 No. 69 (1993 N.Y. Int. 81)
Decided April 8, 1993
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This memorandum is uncorrected and subject to revision before
publication in the New York Reports.
Theodore J. Burns, for Appellant.
James J. Moran, for Respondent Stiles.
New York State Trial Lawyers' Association, amicus curiae.
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MEMORANDUM:
The order of the Appellate Division should be reversed, with costs,
and plaintiff's cause of action in strict products liability
dismissed.
Plaintiff sustained injuries while operating a punch press owned by
his employer third-party defendant Records Reserve Corp. Records
Reserve had purchased the press in used condition from defendant
Batavia Atomic Horseshoes. In awarding damages to plaintiff, the jury
concluded that Batavia was a regular seller of used goods and thus,
under the court's instructions, accountable to plaintiff under the
theory of strict products liability.
A trial court's finding of fact, if affirmed by the Appellate
Division, is beyond the review powers of this Court provided the
finding is supported by evidence on the record (CPLR 5501(b); NY
Const, art VI, § 3(a); Simon v Electrospace Corp., 28 NY2d 136, 142;
Matter of Kelly, 285 NY 139, 142). The evidence in this record,
however, fails to support the jury's finding that Batavia engaged in
sales of equipment as a "regular part of its business" (see, Sukljian
v Charles Ross & Son Co., 69 NY2d 89, 95).
Batavia's business was the manufacture and sale of horseshoes. It had
engaged in incidental transactions involving the purchase and resale
of used industrial machinery on three occasions, once before the sale
to Records Reserve and once subsequent to it. In each transaction, it
purchased used equipment in lots intending to keep much of the
SNIPPETS:
GEORGE ALVIN STILES, RESPONDENT, v. BATAVIA ATOMIC HORSESHOES, INC., RESPONDENT, v.RECORDS
This memorandum is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication in the New York
Theodore J. Burns, for Appellant.
James J. Moran, for Respondent Stiles.
The order of the Appellate Division should be reversed, with costs, and plaintiff's cause of
Plaintiff sustained injuries while operating a punch press owned by his employer third-party
Records Reserve had purchased the press in used condition from defendant Batavia Atomic
In awarding damages to plaintiff, the jury concluded that Batavia was a regular seller of
A trial court's finding of fact, if affirmed by the Appellate Division, is beyond the review
Batavia's business was the manufacture and sale of horseshoes.
It had engaged in incidental transactions involving the purchase and resale of used
it purchased used equipment in lots intending to keep much of the machinery for its own
The press sold to Records Reserve was never unloaded at Batavia, but instead sold directly
Because this evidence fails as a matter of law to support a finding that Batavia was a
Chief Judge Kaye and Judges Simons, Titone, Hancock, Bellacosa and Smith concur.
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