Payson v. Bombardier, Ltd.
Maine Supreme Judicial Court
435 A.2d 411 (1981)
- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
Grevis Payson was killed by Barbara Billings’s snowmobile when she lost control of it. Payson’s family (plaintiff) sued Bombardier, Ltd. (defendant), the manufacturer of the snowmobile. Payson argued that Billings lost control because the snowmobile’s handlebars had broken and that the handlebars were negligently designed so as not to be able to withstand sufficient stress. At trial, Bombardier called Price as a witness. Price was in charge of compiling Bombardier’s product-information reports. Price testified that no Bombardier dealer or distributor had reported handlebar failure on a snowmobile of the kind Billings had. Price testified that Bombardier had used the handlebar design on more than 800,000 snowmobiles. The jury found in favor of Bombardier. Payson appealed, arguing that Price’s testimony was based on hearsay.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (McKusick, C.J.)
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