Preston B. Purvis v. Consolidated Energy Products Company, a Division of Condec Corporation

HARRISON L. WINTER, Chief Judge:

Lacking a controlling state authority, we are called upon in this diversity case to decide whether, under the law of South Carolina, a plaintiff engaged in the business of raising and curing tobacco can recover under South Carolina’s strict liability statute, S.C.Code § 15-73-10 (1976), for losses to his crops allegedly caused by a defective curing barn purchased from the defendant. The district court denied defendant’s motion for summary judgment and submitted the case to the jury, ruling that recovery under the statute was permissible. From the judgment…