Lankster v. Alpha Beta Co

In Lankster v. Alpha Beta Co. (1993) 15 Cal.App.4th 678, the plaintiff was injured when her hand was caught in a grocery store turnstile. Her apparent theory was that the turnstile was improperly installed with a clearance below a two-inch industry standard. One of the jurors told the others during deliberations that while he knew he was not "'supposed to look, he couldn't help but notice over the weekend that the clearance for turnstiles at different stores were all different. I saw a turnstile with just a finger width of clearance and others with less than two inches of clearance.' Other jurors then chimed in that they too had observed different turnstile clearances during the trial. One said that, since they could not find all the stores liable, they could not find Alpha Beta liable. Other jurors also said that Alpha Beta could be liable only if it had actual knowledge of a dangerous condition, without regard to whether it had created the condition by negligent installation of the turnstile." ( Id. at p. 681.)