Jones v. Pak-Mor Manufacturing Co.
Supreme Court of Arizona
700 P.2d 819 (1985)
Relevant factsFree
Jerry Jones (plaintiff) sued Pak-Mor (defendant) for injuries suffered using its trash compactor, and Pak-Mor sought to introduce evidence that, across the compactor model's 26-year history, no injury reports had ever been received. The trial judge excluded the evidence, reasoning Pak-Mor's offer of proof didn't establish the evidence's relevance and citing an older 1936 Arizona rule making such "clean safety record" evidence per se inadmissible. Jones won at trial, and Pak-Mor appealed the exclusion ruling to the Arizona Supreme Court.
IssueFree
Whether, in a case alleging a product's defective design, a judge may admit evidence that the manufacturer had no prior knowledge of the defect.