Subject line is a quote from an Western District of Arkansas US
District Court ruling[*] dated yesterday, although it isn't any main
finding, just an "undisputed fact" for legal purposes. The main
points in the ruling are that the involved metal suppliers and metal fabricators don't bear liability for the 2019 death of a young man,
Parker L., who wore `armor` from a Texas company, Black Diamond Body
Armor[*] while a `friend` shot at him with a rifle firing .223 FMJ.
[*] eg <
https://webservices.courthousenews.com/sites/Data/AppellateOpinionUploads/2023-20-12--12-19-19-ARWD-LYNCH-V-LEECO-BODY-ARMOR-12-19-23.pdf>
[*] <
https://blackdiamondbodyarmor.com>
Black Diamond purchased "certified MIL-DTL-46100E ... steel from
Leeco" that was delivered to Arkansas Machine Works and/or D&F
Equipment Sales. The plaintiffs went after those companies with
claims that they "improperly bent and cut the steel, rendering it
unfit for its intended use as body armor", via the idea "that AMW and
D&F???s cutting or bending the steel created weak, hard, or brittle
spots that caused Parker???s injuries".
A lot of the judgement is not-so-interesting stuff about statute of
limitations details, plus technicalities of "breach of warranty" and
"strict products liability" claims, with a few metal-working items
scattered through, eg: "Plaintiffs conceded the lack of proof to
support their theory of liability based on improper cutting and
bending...", "AMW and D&F offered expert testimony to support their
contention that the cutting and bending had no effect on the steel???s
strength and thus could not have contributed to Parker[???s] injury",
"Based on Plaintiffs??? Brief ... the Court can identify three alleged potential defects: that the wrong type of steel was used in the armor;
that the subject steel???s Brinell Hardness fell below MIL-46100
standards; and that Black Diamond represented the steel as being NIJ
Level 4 rated" (which it isn't). "All three theories are resolved by
the conclusion that AMW and D&F are not suppliers of body armor under
the statute".
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