 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Eagle-Picher Industries Inc. v. Balbos8/29/1990
ion reflects a misunderstanding of a critical issue in any
product liability action: the state of the art pertaining to any possible risks associated with the product. Dartez was required to establish that the dangers of asbestos were reasonably foreseeable or scientifically discoverable at the time of his exposure before these defendants could be found liable. Borel v. Fibreboard Paper Products Corp., 493 F.2d 1076, 1088 (5th Cir. 1973), cert. denied, 419 U.S. 869, 95 S.Ct. 127, 42 L.Ed.2d 107(1974).
Borel holds all manufacturers to the knowledge and skill of an expert. They are obliged to keep abreast of any scientific discoveries and are presumed to know the results of all such advances. Moreover, they each bear the duty to fully test their products to uncover all scientifically discoverable dangers before the products are sold. Id. at 1089-90. The actual knowledge of an individual manufacturer is not the issue. If the dangers of asbestos were known to Johns-Manville at the time of Dartez's exposure, then the same risks were scientifically discoverable by other asbestos corporations. Therefore, the testimony of the medical director of the industry's largest member is relevant to plaintiff's attempt to meet the evidentiary burden defined by Borel.
Id.
Like Judge Levin, we also find the Dartez court's reasoning persuasive. The ATI minutes were evidence of what was known by ATI members at the time of the meetings. As a manufacturer, Eagle-Picher was obliged to keep abreast of what other manufacturers knew about its product, asbestos. That Eagle-Picher might have been tarred by the ATI members' contemplated tactics against critics does not diminish the relevance of the subject evidence. As we noted earlier, " rial judges are vested with wide discretion as to rulings on the relevancy of proffered evidence." Fleming v. Prince George's County, 277 Md. 655, 680, 358 A.2d 892(1976). The trial judge did not abuse his discretion.
19.
The trial court committed an abuse of discretion by admitting into evidence a videotape depicting Leslie Balbos on his deathbed.
Appellant Porter Hayden contends that the trial court committed an abuse of discretion by admitting into evidence a videotape depicting Leslie Balbos on his deathbed. The video, which ran for approximately one minute, depicted Balbos comatose, in a hospital bed just one day before he died. Appellant asserts that any probative value this evidence may have had was far outweighed by the inflammatory and prejudicial nature of the video and by the extreme sympathy and emotion it was calculated to instill in the jury. It further argues the video was cumulative of both the testimony and documentary evidence concerning Balbos's condition during the latter days of his illness. Appellant requests that we reverse and remand for a new trial.
The decision whether to admit evidence depicting the condition of victims is left to the sound discretion of the trial court and will not be disturbed on appeal unless plainly arbitrary. Fuget v. State, 70 Md. App. 643, 653, 522 A.2d 1371(1987); Johnson v. State, 303 Md. 487, 495 A.2d 1(1985). In Nolan v. Dillon, 261 Md. 516, 276 A.2d 36(1971), in upholding the admissibility of three photographs of an injured hand, which photographs had been taken prior to the amputation of fingers, the Court of Appeals stated:
There is no contention that these do not fairly and accurately depict the condition of the hand at that time, and photographs which meet this tes
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 Maryland Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|