Opinion ID: 1958884
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Admitting evidence of a recall of IH buses containing computer anti-locking devises.

Text: Plaintiffs called Anthony Pasqual, the service manager at the IH dealership, and attempted to question him about plaintiffs' Exhibit # 33, an IH school bus recall. Defendant objected to this line of questioning on grounds of relevance and undue prejudice. The Court ruled that a proper foundation had not been laid by the plaintiffs, showing that the braking systems of the buses were identical to the systems on the 5070 and 2070. Defendant moved for a mistrial on the grounds of prejudice at the end of Pasqual's cross-examination; the Court denied the motion. Over defendant's objection, plaintiffs' Exhibit # 33 was later admitted, during plaintiffs' cross-examination of Lewellyn Griffith, IH's regional technical service manager. Defendant objects to the admission of plaintiffs' Exhibit # 33 and questions concerning it on two grounds: 1) admission of the Exhibit violated the Pre-Trial Order, and 2) admission was permitted without proper foundation. The Pre-Trial Order provides that all exhibits to be introduced at trial are as set forth in the Pre-Trial Memoranda. Plaintiffs' Exhibit # 33 was not listed in the plaintiffs' pre-trial memorandum. The plaintiffs advance three reasons for admitting the Exhibit despite non-compliance with the Pre-Trial Order: 1) the document came into the plaintiffs' possession only five days before trial, 2) the document is an IH business record so the defendant was not unfairly surprised, and 3) the document should have been produced in the course of discovery in response to the following production request, filed July 3, 1980: Copies of all records of recall campaigns conducted since January 1, 1975, by International Harvester or on its behalf, in relation to safety related brake defects. The mere fact that the Exhibit was not listed in plaintiffs' Pre-Trial memorandum does not compel the presiding Justice to exclude the evidence. Given the confusion surrounding defendant's response to the discovery request and the fact that the Exhibit came from defendant's records, we find no abuse of discretion. With respect to defendant's objection concerning the lack of foundation, the evidence of the school bus recall was relevant. The recall notice was dated August 1976. The notice stated that false cycling of computer anti-locking systems in school buses could result from stop and go school bus driving. The notice warned that the defect could cause loss of brakes without prior warning. Witnesses had testified that the school buses had basically the same 121 anti-locking systems as the 5070 and 2070 trucks, the major difference being the size of the bus braking systems and the possibility of vibration. Plaintiffs correctly contend that the recall evidence was admissible to bolster Ternent's opinion on the cause of the March 2 and August 16 accidents. Ternent testified that the computer malfunctioned and released the air brakes. On cross-examination, the defendant attempted to show that Ternent's opinion was the result of conjecture and was highly unlikely. The defendant brought out that the 121 anti-locking device contains a self-abort mechanism which was designed to permit driver control of the brakes within a certain period after the anti-locking system took control. On cross-examination, defense counsel's questioning suggested the improbability of a malfunction in both the anti-lock and abort devices. The school bus recall would tend to demonstrate that false cycling was possible, and that it could cause a crash despite the abort mechanism. We find no error in the Court's ruling.