Sebelin v. Yamaha Motor Corp

In Sebelin v. Yamaha Motor Corp., 705 A.2d 904 (Pa. Super. 1998), an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) that a minor was riding when he was injured while traversing on one of the defendants' property was impounded by police and later was found to have been stolen from the impound lot. The Superior Court declined to penalize the plaintiffs in their products liability suit by granting summary judgment to the defendants on spoliation grounds because their causation defenses were not substantially impaired inasmuch as they could perform tests on another ATV to support the defenses. It also noted that the plaintiffs were justified in assuming that the ATV would be secure at the police station.