Opinion ID: 315655
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: testimony concerning prior and subsequent incidents

Text: 21 The trial judge permitted plaintiff and other Pittsburgh Coal employees to testify about several of their abnormal experiences with Airdox shells. Plaintiff himself testified that about three weeks before the accident in question, a sudden release of air from the shell with which he was working blew some powder into his eye, not embedding anything in his skin but requiring that his eye be cleaned out. He testified that on two other occasions, once while he was about to place a shell in a new hole and once while a shell was lying unconnected on the ground, he had seen the shell poof or fizz from the release of pressurized air. Spender, another Pittsburgh Coal employee, testified that on at least one occasion several weeks after the accident, apparently because of condensation blocking the line, air was released very slowly out of the bleeder valve. However, the shell was used without incident immediately after this slow bleeding. Finally, Duke, another employee, testified that several weeks after the accident he had seen an unattached Airdox shell with no apparent cause suddenly jump eighteen inches off the ground. 22 Although there was no evidence that the shells involved in these incidents were the same shell that injured plaintiff, there was testimony that each of the shells was of identical design with the suspect shell. Furthermore, aside from being direct evidence that the suspect shell was itself defective, the testimony was intended to counter defendant's contention that the shell design made impossible a misfiring caused by air retention. 7 Such a contention could best be refuted by examples to the contrary, and defendant had full opportunity to cross-examine plaintiff's witnesses to develop any significant differences in circumstances that it deemed relevant. Even now defendant does not state specifically how the differences in circumstances affect the probative value of the admittedly minor incidents to refute the defendant's general contention that the shell design made misfiring impossible. 23 In determining the admissibility of the testimony, we must apply Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a) and give plaintiff the benefit of the more liberal of the Pennsylvania or federal rule. 8 Under the circumstances, however, we need not decide whether there is any difference between the two standards. Under both the state 9 and federal 10 standards the trial court acted within its discretion in admitting the testimony. 24