The manufacturers of a bullet-resistant vest knew of problems with the product before an Oceanside, Calif., police officer was shot to death, a jury found in awarding the officer's widow $2.5 million in damages.

Second Chance Body Armor of Central Lake, Mich., assembled the Ultima vest from Zylon synthetic fibers made by Toyobo Co. of Japan. The widow of Officer Tony Zeppetella claimed both companies were strictly liable for defectively designing the product and failing to warn of its potential risks.

Zeppetella, 27, died from a chest wound after a parolee, Adrian Camacho, shot him 13 times during a traffic stop in June 2003. The Oceanside Police Department had issued him a vest, but he paid $300 out of his own pocket to upgrade to the $950 Ultima product.

According to Jamie Zeppetella, the manufacturers were aware at least two years before her husband's death that Zylon tends to degrade and lose strength when exposed to heat, humidity and light. Second Chance has denied knowing of the problems until October 2003.

After nearly a week of deliberations, a San Diego County Superior Court jury could not reach a verdict on whether the fatal bullet pierced Officer Zeppetella's vest because of a design defect. But it found liability on the failure-to-warn theory.

Plaintiff's attorney Gregory S. Emerson had introduced a document into evidence in which one executive, referring to a possible solution to Zylon's problems, wrote “PRAY.”

"It was all internal information, and we felt it didn't get to the end user in time, or to the end user at all," the jury foreman told the North County Times.

The defendants are planning to contest the verdict, with an attorney for Second Chance suggesting that it was inconsistent. “If the vest is not defective, what do you warn about?” Robert S. Green asked.

That argument may not go far since a product is defective if its manufacturer has a duty to warn of dangers and fails to provide an adequate warning of those dangers. The jury ruled that the inadequate warnings about Zylon were a “substantial factor” in causing Zeppetella's death.

"If they had warned him, he would have had the opportunity to upgrade his vest," juror Denice James explained. "He would have had the opportunity to research for himself. He never got the opportunity to make a conscious decision.”

The jury awarded a total of $3.6 million, including $2.1 million in economic damages and $1.5 million in non-economic damages. Because Camacho was found 70 percent to blame, Second Chance and Toyobo are liable for only $450,000 of the non-economic damages.

By Matthew Heller
9/19/06